A Different Life
by Modon
Summary: Naruto is sent back in time along with a edo tensei'd Yagura during the fourth shinobi war, due to an accidental Kamui. Watch the prodigal Naruto Uzumaki now living as Yagura Kenji, reshaping history with a new identity as a legendary Konoha shinobi. Time travel! Action! Romance and drama in later chapters.
1. Time Travel

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Naruto and every character of Naruto's story belongs to Kishimoto Masashi.

When they both agreed to join the shinobi war, followed up by crashing through several layers of barriers and facing two angered kages. This was _not_ what they expected to happen.

Battling it out with Nagato and Itachi should have been weird and a challenge enough. They almost died in that exchange too, had it not been for Itachi being a life-saver. He singlehandedly took down Nagato, who would have killed Bee and Naruto otherwise.

At least Nagato gave them all some words building their spirits up before they went their own way. They hadn't expected such a fight straight off the bat. Surely they expected to join in on the battlefield, fighting dozen of reanimated Zetzus like any other normal shinobi. They had however, _not_ expected this...

Naruto's eyes widened at the sudden appearance of Tobi escorted by six very unmistaken edo-tensei abused jinchuurikis. It was obvious who was behind this cursed abomination of a jutsu, damn that Kabuto. They all had scars and flesh wounds on their bodies. Their eyes were lifeless as something could ever be, which infuriated him to no end.

He glanced to his right side to his fellow jinchuuriki companion, Killer Bee. He somewhat felt bad for his friend just by watching his face expression. He knew that Bee had personally known some of these people. The only person he knew about personally was Utakata, but that was only for a brief moment during a mission.

The sight of the yondaime mizukage was slightly unnerving too, not that facing six jinchuurikis and Tobi wasn't in the first place.

"Hachibi, Kyuubi, this is as far as you go." the cold voice came from Tobi. Naruto was slightly taken back by his voice, which usually was so cheery and innocent. He obviously knew it was an act. He knew ever since their meeting in the land of iron.

"Naruto, watch out!" the voice from Killer Bee yelled. Naruto watched wide eyed as Tobi came rushing towards him. He sure wasn't afraid to get hurt in close combat, despite having six jinchuurikis guarding him.

Thanks to the speed of his recently acquired bijuu mode by defeating Kurama in battle, he narrowly dodged a blow which might have proved fatal. He jumped a few steps back watching Killer Bee do his part of the work, by slamming a bijuu sized fist towards Tobi.

Too bad his mangekyou sharingan had the annoying ability to phase through items, and most importantly of all, hits and jutsus. He could practically be immune for five minutes straight. An annoying ability.

The next thing happening left him gaping wide eyed. The six reanimated jinchuurikis all started transforming as if on cue. It didn't take long for six bijuus to stand infront of them, with Tobi standing comfortably in the back.

"I am such a pitiful jinchuuriki... I swear I'm the only one that never learned to transform to that extent," he muttered.

"**Why does that matter kiddo? We got something that's better than that!"** the voice of Kurama boomed in his mind.

'_You got something that can help us out? I mean, this speed and extra potent and strong chakra is amazing, but I doubt it can do the job against SIX bijuus.'_ Naruto grumbled in his mind.

"**Oh, just give me control for a minute and I'll get those pesky pests out of our way."** Kurama said chuckling. Naruto could only sigh in defeat.

'_Do your worst._' he thought back switching sides with Kurama. He had only done this once before, but the feeling was always weird. He would probably never get over the fact someone else was controlling _his_ body.

However, when he watched the work of Kurama he didn't mind all too much. It only took a few seconds for them to be surrounded in a fox shaped yellow chakra form. It was at least a mountain in size, and oozed of power.

_'I've got to ask him how he does that some day.'_ he mused in his mind.

"**I'll teach you some other time**!" Kurama shouted. Naruto could only shake his head in dismay, even inside his mind he couldn't have any privacy.

He watched the show unfold as Kurama fought together with Hachibi against the enslaved bijuus. However, once Kurama started cursing about lack of control, Naruto was immediately slammed back into his true self.

However, moving around like the big shaped fox didn't prove too hard. It was actually quite easy once you got the hang of it.

Either way, everything just got ten times harder when six bijuudamas was aimed perfectly towards Killer Bee and himself. However, one quick instruction and lots of curses from Kurama got him put into the offense once again.

He moved towards the mouth of the fox forming a seemingly large bijuu rasengan, which he guessed, counted as the bijuudama for them. He watched in awe as the size of his constructed ball of chakra increased by each second, as he kept on charging it up. One warning from Kurama to stop and he jumped back, watching the fox throw the ball away with incredible speed. Naruto couldn't help but stare in awe at his own piece of work. The mere size of the bijuudama was five times the size of everyone elses' bijuudama.

"I'll be damned Kurama, that's quite a dangerous tool," he said, listening to the satisfied and smug chuckles coming from his bijuu friend.

He couldn't really see the results of their work as the whole place was being razed to the ground, by the combination of all the bijuudamas.

It took a while for the dust to settle down, but all that remained was Tobi and six unconscious jinchuuriki in their human form. It was weird though, from reports the people suffering under the edo tensei would never exhaust or run out of chakra. Heck, they couldn't even feel pain. They would also regenerate, and these six people were no excuse to that. So just what was going on?

It was even more unnerving to see Tobi perform hand signs as a giant statue erupted from the ground. It had nine eyes, and he already had suspicions of what this being was.

He was confirmed right as the essence of five of the six jinchuuriki flew towards the statue, forming five eyes in the statue. He watched _very_ surprised as Tobi opened a chest of sorts, as the three last remaining eyes opened as well, which meant he had somehow gotten his hands on chakra of the Ichibi, Hachibi and Kyuubi.

"Yo, nine, this doesn't look fine!" Bee yelled from his side of the battlefield. Naruto only shook his head, this didn't look good at all. It was plain horrible. But he still didn't understand why he left one eye open, and the mizukage stayed behind as his edo tensei. Perhaps he needed protection, and a kage was as good as any.

It only got worse as his fox shaped form disappeared, due to Kurama exhausting himself.

He watched in slight fright, or relief that two people arrived just next to them. Gai and Kakashi had arrived, for whatever reason and how, he didn't know.

"Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei, what are you doing here!? It's not really a proper place to be, you know," he somewhat hissed back at them. He wanted to curse them for being reckless idiots for even thinking of going to a huge bijuu battle.

"You know Naruto, those who ab-" Kakashi started.

"Abandon their teammates are worse than trash, yeah, yeah I know. Damn... anyway, we got some problems here. Tobi just summoned some huge statue which somehow absorbed chakra from eight of the bijuus. I don't know how he got his hands on Kyuubi and Hachibi though..." he muttered at the end.

"There have been reports of some brothers from Kumo who lived in the stomach of Kyuubi for two weeks. They had to eat its flesh to survive, and they did. The after effects was similar to a pseudo jinchuuriki, they could call upon the vile chakra of kyuubi to a certain extent." Kakashi explained. "It was reported that they had indeed been reanimated by edo-tensei, which might be the reason Tobi got his hands on kyuubi's chakra.."

"And I might have... lost an arm against that Sasuke guy, but don't worry, we'll work this out like a charm!" Bee said as he jumped next to them.

"Well... that's just fantastic." Naruto said groaning. "So what's next? Juubi? I really don't hope so..."

"It doesn't look like the juubi to me. It seems pretty death to me." Kakashi muttered.

"Don't jinx it!" Naruto shouted, watching as the statue started moving. "I hate you sometimes, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said, sighing.

"Sorry..." Kakashi muttered.

"Okay, just hang on tight! This is gonna be one hell of a ride!" He shouted ignoring Bee's anime tears of joy scribbling down on his note book, before he took off towards Tobi wanting to end this by finishing the summoner off.

To his surprise it wasn't Tobi charging towards him, but the yondaime mizukage Yagura instead.

Kakashi, however was watching wide eyed as Tobi somehow formed a dimensional rift with his mangekyou sharingan. Something Kakashi thought he only was capable of. "Naruto, watch out!" he shouted as he used his own sharingan eye to erase the other rift.

He didn't expect the two rifts to somewhat mix and expand. He could only watch wide eyed as Naruto and the edo tensei'd mizukage got dragged into the rift, watching them fade away as the rift closed.

"Well... damn..." Kakashi muttered.

"Yo bro, Fool ya fool, which side you on?" Bee complained.

**From here on out this timeline doesn't really matter.**

He impacted at the ground with a loud thud as he groaned in pain. He was lying on the ground for what felt like an eternity with a dizzy mind, not really knowing what was going on.

He coughed as the dust from the impact hit his nostrils. He finally payed attention to his condition as he coughed blood. From a short inspection he noted that his body was anything but normal. It felt shorter and more fragile, as if his legs and arms had been cut in half.

The boy knew that the injuries wasn't faithful despite his dreadful thoughts, but they were painful and annoying nevertheless. However, his injuries was second priority for now, Kurama would always heal a lose limb anyway, but that brought another question. Where the hell was Kurama? And who was this other being inside him?

The thought of Kurama being gone worried him more than he would dare to admit.

He didn't want to think about it. For now his main priority was his body, which wasn't or at least didn't seem like his real body.

His legs and arms were shorter than he remembered them. With great reluctantce he forced his eyes open once again despite the dust aching his eyes, he glanced at his body and gasped in shock. He was right in his conclusion, this didn't feel like his real body, because this _wasn't_ his real body.

The situation was insane in his opinion. He was stuck in a kid's body, or at least he thought so. He ran his hands through his hair, eyes widening in panic at the lack of spiky hair. He ripped a lock of hair out watching in horror at the color, it was light-grey. He ran his fingers over his cheeks looking for whiskers, only to find nothing.

_'Just what the hell is going on? This is not my body!'_

He came to a weird conclusion in his mind. He was somehow given a new body, which wasn't his real body, which somehow happened as he was sucked into a rift along with Yagura.

Completely, utterly insane and impossible he concluded.

The thought worried him more than he would admit. He had often seen Obito and Madara perform a technique with their eyes, sucking items or persons into their eyes. Nobody knew what happened to the victims of that specific jutsu, and he was still slightly confused even though he was on the recieving end of said jutsu.

He had felt his body stretch to impossible lengths as he swirled into Obito's and Kakashi's rift. It had been a weird and uncomfortable experience, but it had been short and he was grateful for that. He had impacted with the ground shortly after with a younger body, in a forest clearing.

Many things could have happened. He might be in a genjutsu, although the idea was unlikely. Kurama would dispel any genjutsu coming from an Uchiha, the fox simply wouldn't allow the influence of an Uchiha to be near them. But... Kurama was gone... and something else lingered in his body.

He might have arrived in a different dimension for all he knew, or simply been thrown away to a random place in the elemental countries.

He shook his head in denial, that wasn't a possibility. He wasn't stupid, he knew this was hino no kuni, he knew the place from his many travels. Whatever happened had sent him away from his _real_ home into somewhere else entirely.

The hino no kuni he knew was a battlefield, and the smell of smoke and the sound of explosions was lacking.

He sighed forcing his body up in a sitting position but with no succes. His body was clearly hurt, and despite his best efforts the pain would always push him back to the ground.

Being a kid again sucked pretty badly in his opinion.

He didn't know if he should feel relief or worry as he heard a group of people speak not too far away from his location. His impact obviously caused a bit of a commotion, and such a situation would normally be investigated by ninjas.

"...It was over here."

"It doesn't seem like a battlefield in my opinion, it's just a random crater."

"Look! There's somebody down there!"

"Oh kami... it's a kid!" he heard someone shout, he felt like rolling his eyes, if only they knew.

"He needs medical attention," one of them muttered just loud enough for him to hear, "he's obviously wounded. He's in a bad condition."

Naruto forced his eyes open once more, groaning in pain as he opened his mouth trying to speak but to no prevail. He started coughing blood once again, but this time it lasted for quite a while. _'Maybe I underestimated my injuries...'_

"The kid is still conscious!" one of them shouted.

"He's obviously in pain, can someone give him some medical attention?" another kunoichi asked.

Naruto didn't try or bother resisting as someone pressed a needle into his skin. He gave a soft moan, seconds later he blacked out welcoming the bliss of sleep.

.

It was night when he finally woke up. He didn't recognize the area or place specifically. It seemed like a hospital if he had to guess, which someone had been kind enough to bring him to as he healed. The room only contained a table, a chair and a soft bed.

His body had been bandaged which he had to chuckle a bit at. His body looked like a mummy which humored him slightly. He could feel his injuries, but he had felt worse in the past and didn't struggle too much to stand up once again.

As he sat in his bed his mind was running wild with several confusing memories and previous deeds he never remembered having done. The confusing part is, these memories didn't belong to him, but Yagura.

He remember that he is a 7 year old academy student training in Kiri. His name is Kenji Yagura, a prodigy in fact. He's skilled in genjutsu, ninjutsu and kenjutsu.

He is the chosen jinchuuriki of the sanbi, due to his family being closely related with the nidaime mizukage. The people doesn't hate or fear him like in Naruto's time due to his jinchuuriki status remaining secret.

He is the last of his family line as his parents died at a young age. He is an orphan and a pacifist at heart and well mannered.

All these memories didn't bother him too much as he imagined they would. They felt natural, as if they were supposed to be there. He knew everything Yagura considered normal, his favorite food, his hobbies, everything.

He shook his head, despite how clear his head was about being Yagura, the part of Naruto wouldn't believe it. Naruto's memories was lingering in the back of his mind. He could remember several konoha techniques which would obviously raise questions. He knew of akatsuki's deeds, and Yagura's future deeds.

He knew about Yagura's future fate as a puppet to Madara, only now _he_ was Yagura.

The part of Naruto felt like screaming in horror and panic, and the part of Yagura felt curious, and excited. They were two different yet similar beings in the same body.

Naruto could from the memories somewhat compare them to eachother. They were both jinchuuriki. They both preferred peace over bloodshed, and both good natured.

Although they had the same ideals, they were as fire and ice in the personality department. Yagura was calm and collected, Naruto was wild and unpredictable. He couldn't quite decipher whether he was Naruto or Yagura at this moment, but he felt like both.

One thing they had in common was their dislike about being called short. They both had a short fuse, and a temper able to bring a certain Kushina to shame.

A part of him felt like being Naruto through and through, but the logical part told him he should remain as Yagura. He decided then and there, that Naruto's personality had to be pushed back for now. At least for the time being. The knowledge could stay, the more knowledge the better.

He was curious as to what was going on otherwise. He remembered his body being too short for his liking, and decided to investiage. One thing the two personalities could definitely agree on, this was an annoying change in appearance, although it felt normal.

Currently he was looking for a mirror which might give him some insight as to what was going on. Right now, he was slightly more worried than he would ever admit.

As he reached a toilet room he didn't hesitate to enter. What he saw would forever be scarred into his mind. He was looking into a younger version of himself as Yagura. light-grey hair, pink pupiless eye, and definitely the child version of Yagura.

He did the only thing any man would do in such a situation. Or at least the Naruto part of him.

He screamed, which would be hilarious for any of the rookie 9 to watch, but right now Naruto really couldn't find any humor in the situation. After all, who could take such a change easily? He looked like a freaking 7 year old Yagura.

He took a few steps back ripping off the bandages to confirm that this was really him. He felt like crying, "just what happened to me?" he muttered in horror. His blond hair, his blue eyes, whisker marks, they were all gone!

He sat down on the toilet as he rubbed his temples. As he finally calmed down he tried to remember what had just happened. He had landed in a clearing with a hard impact after getting sucked into that kamui along with Yagura.

The only logical point he could come across was that he had taken over Yagura's body. They had both been pulled into the rift, and seeing as Yagura was already dead there was no lifeforce for him to live on.

The rift had to his own conclusions so far, sent him into the past where Naruto wasn't alive yet, and seeing as he didn't exist he had somehow robbed Yagura of his body as the only living being of the two.

"Insane... crazy, and completely utterly insane," he muttered under his breath. He had robbed a freaking mizukage of his body somehow and taken his memories. He felt like a mix of Yagura and himself, the experience was too weird to describe for him.

His eyes shut wide open at that. "Holy... shit..." he muttered as he almost ripped off his shirt. He forced chakra to his stomach as a seal appeared. He almost wanted to cry as the seal appeared. It wasn't the same as the shiki fuin, but completely different.

He quickly went into a meditative stance, he had to check out the possibility of this crazy turn of events. As he did so he appeared inside his mindscape next to a familiar gate. However, the being inside was anything but familiar. It looked like a three tailed turtle sleeping with deep breaths. All Naruto could do was stare wide eyed, mouth agape.

"Damn..." he muttered as he once again left his mindscape.

He went back to his thinking of just what had happened to him. After the hard impact with the ground he had heard a couple of people call out to him. They had seemingly helped him judging by the bandages and what not. His next course of action would be to thank them.

He picked up the bandages and strapped them around his injuries once again, he didn't want to look like a complete idiot ripping off his bandages for nothing.

As he sat down on the bed once again his thoughts ran off to another topic. Kurama was nowhere in sight, or at least wasn't present within him, and the thought unnerved him more than he would admit. He had finally gotten along with his bijuu friend, just to lose him and get a new one?

He didn't want to believe in fate, but sometimes... fate is cruel.

**I'll be referring to Naruto as Yagura from now on.**

_'This probably means Kurama is inside Kushina at the moment.'_ Yagura thought. He wondered if Kurama shared his knowledge of the future, and if he did, how much would the future change. He really hoped Kurama wouldn't do anything stupid with this knowledge.

"Not that he's able to, he's probably still under lock in a seal," the thought made him smirk in amusement.

His thoughts ran off to something rather personal. His previous clothing didn't hold too much sentimental value, but he still liked the design. He would have to request for the ragged clothes back.

He was slightly more worried about his weapon though. It was a hook-ended staff with a green flower located on the larger end. It was a inherited weapon from his family tree, which assisted the user in water ninjutsu and genjutsu.

The staff was also a part of his close combat style. It wasn't only beneficial for his ninjutsu, but taijutsu and kenjutsu as well. With suiton chakra flow, his strikes would be slamming powerful water strikes wearing down the opponent.

Needless to say, the staff wasn't too important for the Naruto part. But for Yagura, the staff was a very important part of his combat style.

Not much else is known about the weapon, other than it was the nidaime mizukage's creation and a gift to his family tree. He was the last of the line, and inherited the staff. He would have to _demand_ it returned.

He was broken from his musing as someone knocked on the door quickly entering. The sight made Yagura mentally smile, frown and worry.

The man entering the hospital room was none other than Sarutobi Hiruzen, the sandaime hokage. Normally this would be a great sight to behold for Naruto/Yagura, but he wasn't that dumb. He was a different person now, and a jinchuuriki to boot.

The hokage wouldn't visit just any injuried child, just for the sake of visiting. Normally people entering Konoha without allowance would get interrogated. Him being a child probably gained him free access, due to being a child.

The fact that Hiruzen actually took his time to visit him could only mean one thing. He knew about his jinchuuriki status.

"Hello child, how are you?" Hiruzen asked in his usual grandfatherly tone.

The voice almost made Yagura smile, almost. He wasn't stupid, Hiruzen was using a method used on children all the time. He was being kind, warm and welcoming, getting said child to open up.

"I'm fine, thank you. Ehm, sorry for asking, but where am I?" Yagura asked looking out of the window confused.

"You're in Konohagukare no sato, young one."

"Oh..." Yagura muttered a bit wide eyed. "How did I end up here?"

"A few of my shinobi found you on their travels. You were heavily wounded, do you remember what happened to you?" Hiruzen asked.

Yagura shook his head, "no, I'm sorry I can't remember."

"Do you have any family?" Hiruzen asked.

"No, I'm an orphan. My family died when I was young." Yagura replied. "Which reminds me. Did your ninjas somehow pick up my clothes, and staff? The staff holds sentimental value to me as my only family heirloom."

Hiruzen nodded, "your belongings are safe, don't worry about that." Yagura crossed his arms with a satisfied smile and nodded, although he knew the staff was his least bit of worries right now.

He somewhat realised just by crossing his arms with that smile, that he had uncontrollably just used one of Yagura's antics.

"Where is your home?" Hiruzen asked.

"...Kirigakure no sato," Yagura replied nervously with the smile faltering.

"I thought so," Hiruzen said taking a puff from his smoking pipe. "How is kirigakure to you?"

Yagura's eyes narrowed slightly in a thinking pose. "...It's hard to describe. I like Kiri, although the ninjas are harsh. I think the mizukage is slightly, eh, insane," he said rubbing his neck nervously. "Kiri is my home, but I can't say I love it there. People are harsh, there are many poor people. People live in fear, I believe some of them nickname it the bloody mist these days."

Hiruzen nodded at that. "Would you like me to send a message to Kiri that we have found one of their inhabitants, or would you like to stay here? You're not a official ninja yet, after all."

Yagura blinked at that, "sorry sir, but what are you implying? Do you want me to stay here? And why would Kiri care enough about one of their average civilians in Konoha?" _'At least that gives me an alibi for not 'knowing' of my tenant. Yet.'_

Hiruzen chuckled. "You're quite a special child, you just don't know it yet. You'll find out some day. What I imply is, do you want to stay in Konoha as a citizen? Perhaps a shinobi?"

_'From Yagura's memories, war is soon coming up. It is not unheard of for people to defect to other villages while under pressure, or spy missions where they might grow attached. Jinchuuriki is something completely else though. Hiruzen, you're playing a dangerous game. War is coming up, and this might very well be the catalyst. While I'm not a missing nin, jinchuuriki is still considered a country's property._

"I don't know? You're giving me quite a hard choice sir. I haven't even seen the place yet." Yagura replied.

"I guess you can be set on a trial, sort of. Consider living in the village for a month, and decide afterwards?"

Yagura considered this and nodded. It was an alright deal, and Konoha was far more likable than Kiri, especially in the upcoming times. "I would like that, sir."

Hiruzen once again moved towards the door, "I'll bring you back your belongings tomorrow evening when you'll be checked out. Until then, rest. By the way what's your name?"

"Kenji Yagura, sir. What's your name, and who are you?" Yagura replied.

_'A Kenji, huh? Interesting. I haven't seen one of those in ages, he wasn't joking about being the last of a family line.' _"Sarutobi Hiruzen, the sandaime hokage." he said chuckling wirth mirth at the wide eyed expression on the kid's face as he left the room.

_'I'm a great actor, I still have it in me.'_ Yagura thought with a mental smirk. Not many could misslead the hokage like that. Still, he didn't lie at all, but he didn't tell a lot of information either. Especially when implying he didn't know of his tenant.

But then again, it's not like a seven year old would have information worth interrogating. How wrong they were.

.

The next day was quite boring to Yagura. He spent most of the day sitting in the windowsill overlooking Konoha. The view from the window was always a weird sight to behold. This Konoha was different than his own in many ways. This Konoha was larger, bigger and more populated due to being prior to two shinobi wars and a kyuubi attack.

The fact that the Konoha in his time is under rebuilding was a big change as well. Still, the busy Konoha oozing with life gave him a sting of nostalgia. He wanted nothing more than just run out on the streets and perhaps cause mischief and have fun.

However, Yagura's personality kicked in, and he could almost hear Yagura's part mock him about being immature. It felt weird having certain urges, which seemed right and wrong at the same time, but Yagura reasoned it would take time getting used to.

Still, the hokage monument looked extraordinarily weird lacking two heads. He didn't mind the lack of Tsunade's head, since it was fairly new to him. However, the lack of Minato's head looked weird, as if something was very wrong. Minato had after all been his idol for many years as Naruto.

He was taken away from his musing as the door opened and in walked Hiruzen along with a younger looking Jiraiya. He didn't quite know why _he_ was coming along, but shrugged it off.

He knew that some of the higher ups knew of his presence, and his tenant. He was under watch, and he knew it.

"Hokage-sama." Yagura said bowing.

"It's good to see you again Yagura-kun. I brought you your staff and clothing. I took it upon myself to bring a new pair of clothes, with the same design. I must say, it's quite a odd fashion taste you have." Hiruzen said chuckling.

Yagura didn't hesitate to grab the staff and look over the clothes with a smile. "Thank you hokage-sama, but why go to such lengths? I always heard rumors about Konoha being peace loving and too good hearted for their own good. But this is... I don't know, just thank you, really." Yagura said with a smile. "Not that being good hearted is a bad thing, I didn't mean to insult your hospitality."

Hiruzen waved him off as they gave him some privacy to get clothed. Wearing a hospital gown is something most people would dislike.

They returned a few minutes later to see the same kid clothed, and with a eager look. Jiraiya couldn't help but inspect his style, it somewhat reminded him of himself. His own clothing didn't resemble much of a ninja, neither did this Yagura person.

He wore a grey, sleeveless shirt. He also had short-sleeved mesh armour over which he also wears a green poncho along with a light green sash around his waist, paired with a green apron over his pants. He finished the look off with a hook-ended staff with a green flower located on the larger end held firm on his back.

He couldn't help but notice Yagura's eyes either. They were pink with no pupils, almost like foreign Hyuuga eyes. The way he stood as well almost gave him a look of authority, and as far as he could tell, he was a mature kid despite his age.

"This is Jiraiya, one of my former students." Hiruzen explained. "You'll be living with him for this month's trial. However, he's a busy man so you'll probably be on your own quite some time, but I believe you'll behave even when he's not in your presence?"

"Of course hokage-sama. Nice to meet you Jiraiya-san," Yagura said politely with a bow.

"Tsch, no need to be so formal kid. I'll teach you to loosen up eventually," he said giving a firm hand shake. The look Hiruzen gave him wasn't a comfortable one. As if saying _'Don't taint the younger generations with your antics, or else.'_

He had obviously been told of the special condition about this kid being a jinchuuriki. That was partly the reason he was his caretaker for the time being. He was pretty good with seals, and should Yagura run wild or the seal fail, he would be there to take care of the problem.

"I see... I'll look forward to your acquaintance, Jiraiya." Yagura said.

_'He got quite a vocabulary for someone his age. Still, he needs to loosen up!'_ Jiraiya thought with renewed determination.

"I'll leave the two of you alone for now. Please do lead him to your borrowed apartment, Jiraiya." Hiruzen said as he left once again.

"...Well come along gaki, we've got stuff to do." Jiraiya said with a gesture to follow.

The evening had been quite uneventful. Jiraiya had simply showed him an apartment which wasn't too big, nor too small. The place seemed decent with a tv, two bedrooms, a kitchen, a toilet, simply just an average apartment.

They had talked for a few minutes while he got used to the place, listening to some sort of house rules which he quickly put back in his mind.

15 minutes later Jiraiya simply left, claiming to have business to do. Yagura didn't pry, nor did he need to. He obviously knew just what Jiraiya was going to do.

He had went to bed slowly after, with a worried and excited mind on what the future might bring. He was given a chance, and quite a cool chance as well.

He had always been a wind user, but Yagura was a prodigy in the making from his memories. He had a water affinity, higher than the average ninja. Apparantly his family was well known for that, almost bordering a kekkei genkai which brought him some dry amusement.

Yagura in his time had after all attempted to wipe out every bloodliner. "Tsch, hypocrit," he muttered shaking his head with a slightly amused smirk.

He was excited for the next day. Jiraiya had told him a bit about this 'trial' and what it includes. He had obviously shown a strong joy for becoming a shinobi, which Hiruzen took in mind. Jiraiya had explained to him that his trial included going to a ninja academy just for that reason. After some thorough explanation Yagura simply shrugged it off, it wasn't like he was nervous. He was excited.

He didn't know when Jiraiya would return from his 'research', nor did he really care. He could take care on his own after all.

Unknown to him, Jiraiya wasn't actually researching, but talking/discussing about Yagura with Hiruzen.

.

"I understand how much Konoha is gonna benefit from someone like him. His chakra reserves is through the roofs, I dare say he's surpassed Kushina in that field already!" Jiraiya said rubbing his temples. "But this doesn't look like you old man, usually you would send him back to Kiri as a friendly gesture. What gives?"

"Jiraiya. I do know how risky and possibly stupid this is of us. However, nobody knows that he's actually residing in Konoha at the moment, so no trouble will arise for a while. Another reason is reputation." Hiruzen explained.

"Reputation?"

"Yes. Reputation. The council has been complaining about me being passive, not being aggressive enough, especially in times like these. They claim that I am wasting Konoha's potential, and that it is time to do something drastic. Show the world that we aren't weak." Hiruzen explained.

"By accepting a stranded jinchuuriki? Who knows, the kid might as well have been kidnapped. I dare bet a million ryo that Kiri is in panic right now losing their _'living weapon'_, and you let this happen, why? Reputation isn't a good enough reason."

"First of all. The fact that there is no clue leading towards Konoha only makes the situation better. Besides, it's not like I forced him into Konoha. If his reaction to my questions had given me the idea he would rather stay in Kiri, I would have sent him back. He told me in a indirect way he's disagreeing with the mizukage's ideals, and their bloody ways overall."

"So it's pity?" Jiraiya said with a smirk, meanwhile shaking his head in amusement.

"Pity? No. I didn't do this out of pity, but I can't deny that this Yagura will live a better life here than in Kiri. Right now his jinchuuriki status isn't well known, only among the two of us, not even Yagura knows. I told the medic to swear on secrecy not to mention of his seal as well, and I doubt she knows what the seal is meant for. As far as shinobis and civilians think, the bijuus are myths. His status is the same as Kushina's, if not more secretive."

"But the moment Kiri takes notice of him, there is hell to pay. They will target Konoha, while portraying us in a bad light."

"Nonsense. All it takes is a public reply from Yagura that he willingly joined Konoha. Every village obviously knows that we subtly hinted for him to join due to being a jinchuuriki. But they can't hint, or pay us back with petty reasons such as revenge for something Yagura willingly chose to do." Hiruzen said.

"Still, it gives a bad light and _reputation_ towards Konoha." Jiraiya said.

"Perhaps not. You're right that we might lose a bit of our 'treehugger' image, but that's about it. We show the outer world that we are serious, and ready to capitalise from their mistakes. Yagura is a sign to the world that we aren't to be taken lightly. Can you ever repeat in history, that a ninja village managed to convince a foreign jinchuriki to join their village?" Hiruzen said with mirth.

"No... but that's because they are so damn secretive. We didn't even know that Yagura was a jinchuuriki, until the nurse accidently discovered a seal while using her medical ninjutsu on his stomach." Jiraiya muttered.

"That fact alone is beneficial to us. Most Kiri ninjas won't know of his burden, and if we're lucky, they might never catch on to us until years later. Besides, war is coming up soon. Most countries won't have time to care of us 'stealing' Kiri's _property_," he said with clear distaste on the word property.

"This might just be the catalyst for the war start," Jiraiya explained.

"It might be. But I doubt it. Kiri isn't strong enough to open up the war, or charge towards Konoha. Besides, this will only be known as spoils of war within a decade. Don't worry too much about it. How is the kid anyway?"

"He's abnormal for a kid... he's way too intelligent and well mannered. I hate to say it, but he's the opposite of me in that age," Jiraiya said dryly. "He's too mature for his own good. I swear he's like a 7 year old, with a mental age of 50." he joked chuckling.

"As expected of a Kenji." Hiruzen said grinning, "he takes after his family, I don't mind. He will probably loosen up a bit when playing along with friends in the academy. He didn't tell me much, but I dare say that the 'bloody mist' isn't one to treat their jinchuurikis with the well being they deserve. I'm looking forward to see how well developed he is in the ninja arts however."

Jiraiya nodded, "when we talked, he explained his water affinity. Apparantly he already knows suiton ninjutsu, and taijutsu. You know, you might as well have found someone that willingly would learn from your bo staff practise. Most of his fighting style revolved around that staff, genjutsu, ninjutsu, taijutsu, kenjutsu. Everything."

Hiruzen smirked, "perhaps. I'll be looking forward to the future then. It's a long time since someone challenged me in a bo staff spar. Perhaps, too long." Jiraiya just smirked.

"His water affinity is better than the average ninjas, he said."

Hiruzen nodded at that, "the Kenji clan was known for that. Some people claimed it to be a kekkei genkai, others claimed it to be pure talent. Not many except the elder generations knows, but suiton ninjutsu always came easy to them. Anyway, was there anything else you wanted to discuss?"

Jiraiya shook his head, "not really, no. I'm just making sure you didn't mess up," he smirked. "I'll be leaving then, I got a kid to take care of I suppose. Although, he really needs to loosen up."

Hiruzen simply shook his head as Jiraiya left the room. "I wonder when it's time to tell Yagura about his burden... either way, things are certainly gonna get interesting in the future," Hiruzen muttered with a grim expression thinking about the future war.

"Hopefully this is a good choice..." with that said, Hiruzen once again continued his work to his best ability.


	2. The Monthly Trial

The monthly trial

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Naruto and every character of Naruto's story belongs to Kishimoto Masashi.

When Jiraiya told him about his random intervals of visits, he wasn't kidding. Yagura almost felt like the home belonged to him, and him alone. Jiraiya was never at home, and he was no fool not to realise Jiraiya wasn't a person to slack off in one place only.

Jiraiya had always been a traveller, and as such walked around the world to view all of the world's wonders. Babysitting was not one of his favorite parts. Sure, he made sure that there were plenty of food, but that was about it.

Yagura didn't complain though, he used this isolation to gather his thoughts. He was surprised at how easy and calm he took this situation. Needless to say, Yagura had a positive influence on his personality in this sense.

He would later realise how beneficial Yagura's traits actually was. He would remain focused on a topic, whether it be boring or not. Naruto never had this ability to stay calm and learn from a verbal perspective. He had always been a reckless person, and a hand to hand learner.

He couldn't tell how much it sucked getting stomped by a 7 year old in the maturity department.

At least he was more mature than Jiraiya these days, and he bashed in that glory. Not that he would ever be able to tell anyone about it, or even mention it.

He actually had this gut feeling he was annoying the soon to be legendary sannin ninja. His calm and confident authority attitude which almost was a contrast to his old self, which could almost be mistaken as being stoic definitely annoyed Jiraiya. The older always cheerful and joking ninja, and the little kid who displayed maturity way above his years. Yep, Yagura was definitely an annoying enigma to Jiraiya.

He had within a day attempted many attempts at Yagura opening up, which he did, just not in a way Jiraiya preferred. The answears to the questions was replied with a vocabulary way above his years, and an air of authority which seemed so foreign to a kid, although Jiraiya was pleased with his manners. But still believed he needed to loosen up.

Most parents or adults would relate him to a noble if anything. Heck, Yagura didn't find his attitude to be bad, quite the opposite in fact. Still, it brought him amusement of how Jiraiya kept on losing his calm.

Yagura in his memories as Naruto could easily rememer Jiraiya and the way he acted around kids. It was something he took great pride in, he was great with kids and always able to make them laugh. The fact that Yagura only cracked a smile or smirk and a quiet laugh once in a while was almost a defeat to him.

Yagura did it on purpose though, but Jiraiya would never know that. The trickster side of Naruto was playing in, and if the calm and somewhat stoic attitude was an annoyance to Jiraiya. Then it was well worth staying that way.

He had woken up an hour before the academy start and eaten breakfast with Jiraiya who repeatedly cracked jokes, asked questions, tried to embarass Yagura. Tried was the keyword, he tried to get a reaction.

"...Bah! I give up, you're a really boring kid, you know that!" Jiraiya hissed through clenched teeth.

"I take offence to that Jiraiya-san. It is not a sign of maturity, nor a proper way to behave like an adult such as yourself berating children by their behavior, especially when it is uncalled for." Yagura said taking a sip from his cup of tea.

"You're one of the weirdest children I've ever met," Jiraiya muttered glancing at Yagura.

"I suppose my upbringing is at fault here. No child should be blamed for the mistakes of the parents, or in this case the adults. My previous choices, or orders or chores has made me into what I am." he said mentally clapping himself on his shoulders.

Jiraya could swear he saw a faint smirk.

Yagura/Naruto was quite sure Yagura was _never_ like this. Perhaps Naruto's knowledge and Yagura's athority in unison worked better than he could ever imagine.

"Besides," he smirked. "Your jokes are dull, however your ninja tales is actually interesting. As expected of an author I suppose."

Jiraiya chuckled. "Yeah, my stories aren't too shabby I suppose. How'd you know I'm an author though?"

Yagura pointed at a scroll in the living room. "When you left yesterday, I sticked around for a bit. I found a scroll listed as 'tools' and thought it'd be something like a knife which I was looking for at that moment. I was quite surprised to see a pen, a notebook, a sealing kit as well as a brush. Judging by that, you're a ninja interested in the sealing arts, and an author. Interesting choices."

Jiraiya's face mirrored that of a fish for a moment before he laughed. "You're quite a special kid. You knew how to unseal from the scroll?"

Yagura nodded, "hai. Sealing scrolls aren't too advanced. After all, using a seal is not hard, it is the creation of the seal that takes skill and experience."

Jiraiya nodded, "that's right. But how'd you know?"

"I've never tried by myself. I was curious to try once upon a time, but the man that inspired me held me off. He claimed it to be too dangerous without experience and precaution. Needless to say, I took his words to me when he accidently blew himself up with a new batch of self-created explosive tags a week later." Yagura said frowning somewhat.

"And that doesn't scare you the least bit?" Jiraiya asked.

"Are you crazy? It scared me shitless," Yagura said chuckling smiling with crossed arms. "But the art seemed interesting. It seemed never ending. The amount of possibilites with the art can go on to no end. Imagine creating a seal made for time travelling or dimensional travelling. All sorts of sealing arts, it's just too exciting to be honest."

Jiraiya laughed at that. "Seems like you took a liking to to fuinjutsu. I like your reasoning as well, that was my own reason for taking the art up as well. Not many people are taking up the sealing arts. And those who do, usually end up injuring themselves. If you're lucky kid, I might just teach you some day."

"That'd be an honor Jiraiya-san. Anyway, I'm better off now. The academy starts within 15 minutes."

"Nonsense kiddo," Jiraiya said still smiling. "I'll take you off with a jutsu when the time comes. For now, let's talk. It's the first interesting conversation I've had in a while, and the first one with you that doesn't drive me nuts."

Yagura smiled back, "of course. The jutsu you're talking about doesn't happen to be shunshin no jutsu...?" he asked as the conversation went on and on from there.

.

It was a nostalgic sight that met Yagura's eyes as he along with Jiraiya's shunshin arrived in the training grounds at the academy. The academy still looked the same, although the students was different. He couldn't complain about that, after all, he too was a different person both in the flesh and mind too.

"Thanks for the trip Jiraiya-jiji," Yagura said grinning at Jiraiya's widened eyes at the nickname. "It seems I managed to get a rise out of you, before you did to me, huh?" Yagura said still grinning.

Jiraiya smirked though. "Heh, I'm not old enough to be your jiji. Call me uncle if anything. I'll see ya around kid, ja ne!"

Yagura gave one last wave as he walked towards the academy with calm steps. His face remaining impassive as people pointed at him, whispering about his attire and weird staff attached to his back.

It was ironic how easily Yagura got attention and glances without even trying, where as Naruto's previous self wore orange and acted like a loud mouth just for the smallest bit of attention. He almost felt like Yagura was a superior being.

"Let's see... room 23..." Yagura muttered as he strolled along the corridors. As he finally reached it he didn't hesitate opening it walking into a loud and wild classroom with children he couldn't help but recognize despite their age.

Two Hyuuga brothers looking quite similar sitting next to eachother. The hyuuga brothers Hiashi and Hizashi. There was Tsume, Shibi, Shikaku, Inoichi, Choza and some others.

However he was quite surprised at seeing a certain red haired girl in the back, and another blonde haired kid with spiky hair a few rows infront of her. The sight was quite a odd one to Yagura. Kushina was in the middle of beating up a boy, and she did a impressing job at it.

He almost swelled with pride just watching.

All attention was on Kushina anyway, which he used for his own benefit and silently strolled through the classroom with a hidden smile, unseen picking a seat close to a window.

He cracked a small smirk as the beaten up kid ran away with a bloody nose, although his comment about 'outsider' or 'tomato' almost made himself retaliate. The overprotective side of Naruto kicking in. He mentally sneered at the boy instead, noting down to kick his ass in a spar some time.

As the class quietened down people went back to their talks, without noticing him. He was quite thankful for that, it gave him a chance to learn about the students in the classroom. Without their knowledge, he listened in on whatever conversation they had. He found their topic of discussion... boring, childish, plain and utterly primitive.

He sighed, here he was in a overly mature 7 year old Yagura with a 16 year old kage leveled shinobi's knowledge and reckless attitude.

These years would be as Shikamaru always said. A drag.

The class finally quietened down as the two senseis entered the classroom with a air of authority. They didn't hesitate to start the class with a name call.

"Kagura Hiro." _'Here_'

"Hmm... Kenji Yagura?" he said glancing around the room.

"Here." Yagura replied with no hesitance or studder quite abnormal for a child at that age. They would usually show signs of nervouseness. There was none at all for Yagura.

"Hmm... you're the new student then? Welcome to the class in that case. Are you new in Konoha?" their sensei asked.

"Hai. I originated in water country. I was brought to Konoha recently after I suffered an injury. The hokage requested me to stay as a civilian of fire country and Konoha, which I accepted. How did you know?" Yagura asked curious.

"Your choice of clothing is quite a odd sight to behold, at least in Konoha."

Yagura nodded, "I suppose it is. It did give me some odd glances this morning," Yagura said smiling with a shrug. "Not that I care, really."

"Anyway, I'm Makazu, and my assistant here is Michi," he said pointing at his assistant who gave a wink back. Yagura merely gave a nod in return.

The class continued as normal after the name calling. It was at this moment the Naruto part truly learned to praise Yagura's attentiveness in class. Every sort of knowledge came to him as a sponge.

He couldn't help but notice the not so subtle differences between the Konoha academy and Kiri's academy. This academy had a different approach, going towards a more relaxed environment, rather than emotionless soldiers. In Kiri they wouldn't learn history or math. They would probably learn reading, and end it there. In Kiri they were soldiers ready for disposal, here in Konoha they were people. It was almost crazy how different it was.

The day went quite uneventful, not many people bothered him or played with him in the few breaks which fit him just fine. The elder part of him wouldn't ever let it down if he suddenly 'played ninja' again. It was so beneath him.

This somewhat gave him the image of a loner, which he really didn't mind at all. He could see the subtle finger pointing towards him, and quiet whispers when they thought he was out of reach. He couldn't help but mentally smile when someone complimented him on his attire, although not to his face but in a low whisper.

Bijuu enhanced hearing really does pay off sometimes. Except the few embarassing times when his stalking pays back, by someone remarking him as 'sorta cute'. He never had that problem before. Kunoichis in Kiri would never do that, and Naruto had never experienced it before. So it was completely fair to blush and blame it on the heat.

It was first at the end of the day when they performed the physical parts that he could shine. The intellectual parts of being a ninja was fine and fair, but it could get boring. The physical part also gave him the chance to show off, as well as find some suitable rivals or training partners for the future.

"All line up, please!" Makazu called out as the anxious students piled up. Yagura wasn't in too much of a hurry as he wanted to evaluate his fellow classmates first.

He wasn't too impressed with the training course they had to take. It was a sort of training field with obstacles, as well as rope climbing and water pounds. He couldn't help but smirk at his upcoming display, as he would abuse the hell out of wall climbing and water walking.

He was slightly surprised as his previous father displayed quite impressive speed for his age. Yagura wasn't sure if he could even match it, but he would damn well try. It seemed like the other students shared his opinion as several people seemed to oggle him, and some sneer in jealousy.

It didn't matter much, with wall climbing alone Yagura could skip the time in half.

"Yagura, your turn," Hiro said as Yagura nodded. He seemed to have gained the attention of everyone present wanting to watch the new kid.

"Ready... set... go!" Hiro shouted as Yagura dashed off in an impressive display of speed.

The first obstacle was simple, he had to jump from log to log, he simply skipped the whole thing doing an impressive chakra enhanced leap.

The next obstacle was the rope climbing which he used wall climbing simply running up the rope. The sight was a very weird one, even for their sensei who was surprised that the rope barely shook despite Yagura running sideways up the rope. Nevertheless, Yagura kept running to the top as he instead of climbing down, leaped off towards one of the water pounds.

The sensei widened his eyes at that, everyone expected him to get soaked to the bones as he aimed at the water puddle, not including the damage to his body from falling at that distance. To their surprise he simply leaped from the water as he water walked continuing his impressive speed.

As he reached the final line his sensei's mouth was gaping open along with every other student. "I-impressive Yagura. That's a new academy record, 13 seconds... you beat Minato by 45 seconds!" he said as if not believing it himself. Yagura gave a nervous, yet confident smile back as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Perhaps he overdid it just a little bit.

"Heh, heh, heh... gotta love wall climbing and water walking, eh?" Yagura said sheepishly. Makazu and Michi both laughed out loud and left it at that.

"Class, line up in five rows as usual. We'll practise shuriken throws the next 20 minutes and end up the day with a sparring session." Michi called out.

Yagura wasn't too impressed with the skill displayed, but then again these kids were 7 year old and shouldn't be very good at anything. It wasn't their fault they were standing next to a previous kage leveled shinobi, who somewhat abused his knowledge to no end.

And abuse that knowledge he did, he kept on aiming straight on the target earning full scores every time. He did recieve a few odd glares of jealousy, and some subtle other stares although he stayed indifferent and acted unknowingly.

By the end of the session his sensei had applauded him quite a few times, commenting on how good he was. He didn't really think it was smart doing so infront of all the other students, his chance of getting friends was quickly reduced. _'Damn jealous brats.'_ Yagura thought sweatdropping.

"Line up in two lines this time. We'll finish the day of with spars for now." Makazu said as the students once again lined up.

Yagura was once again at the end of his line, but he did notice to his surprise and intrigue that someone purposely put themselves in the back of the other line, as if wanting to fight him. He would welcome it with open arms. He wasn't one to back down from a direct or indirect challenge.

When the other students had finally completed their spars and only two people remained, Yagura could finally get a clear view of his opponent. She didn't look like much, brown wild hair, clearly a tomboy and a Inuzuka.

"Yagura against Tsume as the last spar. Please enter the ring." Michi said as they did so.

Yagura took a firm hold of his staff while standing in his combat stance. He really hoped that weapons such as staffs was allowed. He had wanted to spar with it for a long time and try it out.

"Yagura, weapons in these spars are restricted." Yagura mentally groaned at that as he put it back on his back taking in a odd taijutsu stance unknown to the two senseis. It was a mix of Lee's Strong Fist style and Jiraiya's Toad Slam style.

"Go!" Makazu called out as Tsume dashed towards Yagura with impressive speed which took him off guard. He attempted to parry the attack, but found his arm length to be lacking which resulted in her getting the first hit.

Yagura took the hit in stride as he stood back up. This time he was the one initiating the strikes. He was very impressed with Tsume's taijutsu, but then again, Inuzukas was always good at taijutsu. It had never been his strong point anyway, so it was good practise.

He was actually relieved in the fact that it brought a challenge. He wasn't even sure if he could win without the use of chakra. His body had obviously become slower, and as such they were sort of even.

Tsume had the style and speed in order while Yagura had the stamina and strategy.

The senseis and students watched in awe and amazement as the two taijutsu users continously slammed into eachother, parrying, dodging and kicking eachother but none of them giving up.

It was first when Yagura aimed a kick straight to her chin, as she aimed a punch at his abdomen that the match ended. Yagura's kick knocked her out unconsciouss but the punch to his abdomen still caught him off guard. He won the match, but it was very close, and the pain tolerance he once had needed to be picked up on.

"Great job Yagura and Tsume. It seems that Tsume got the most hits in, either you're a very resilient kid Yagura, or you're used to being a punching bag," Michi said giggling. Yagura had the decency to blush at that. Tsume really did deserve the win, but Yagura was known for being stubborn and never giving up.

"I agree to that. Despite how small you are, you sure know how to pack a punch." Makazu said nodding sagely.

"I'M NOT SMALL!" Yagura bursted out surprising everyone, and even himself how easily he lost his cool by that remark. Sure, he knew he was smaller than most kids, and it would only get worse over the years. But that remark made him furious either way.

"O-okay, sorry," Makazu replied sweatdropping. Yagura sighed as he walked away pouting.

As Tsume was being carried away Yagura subtly glanced back at the academy students who stared at him in awe and some in jealousy, and a bit of amusement at the remark. He merely gave them a simple smile and a wave as he slowly walked along the road away from the academy.

"Well, that was fun." Yagura muttered as he strolled through the streets, oblivious to the spying hokage who had watched everything through his crystal ball.

.

"Interesting gaki," Jiraiya said with a smirk. "He's definitely been trained in Kiri, he can already mold chakra properly. Water walking, wall climbing, suiton ninjutsu according to himself. He's a talented kid." Jiraiya said.

"Hai, thath he is." Hiruzen agreed. "Although, his taijutsu is lacking. I dare say he only won that spar due to his tenant affecting his resilience and stamina."

Jiraiya chuckled, "no doubt about that. He took more beatings than I usually do within a month in the company of Tsunade!"

"Still, he's an interesting invidiual with unlimited potential. He's quick on his feet, highly intellectual, stamina and chakra reserves to the roof. With the right guiding and nurture he can be a valuable shinobi and invidual. Both on the battlefield, and possibly politics."

"Politics?" Jiraiya asked confused at that part. A jinchuuriki doing politics flashed his mind as he chuckled.

"He's highly calm, confident and intellectual. I see him as highly polite as well, and he clearly has a way with words. He might develop into a strong leader, and a great shinobi. This generation has quite a lot of potential."

"No kidding. That Minato kid and many of the clan heirs aren't too shabby. That Inuzuka from the spar clearly has talent and strength to boot." Jiraiya added in.

"Hai. And I do believe Yagura's presence is healthy for Minato too. I'm almost too certain that Minato will see Yagura as his rival, and further progress in the shinobi arts. Perhaps they could befriend eachother eventually, and Yagura learn to as you put it, loosen up."

"It'll be interesting to follow his development. However, his abilities and skills so far clearly points towards genin skill, and his maturity and vocabulary points towards a chunin if not jonin. That is all too impressive for a 7 year old, but I am not exaggerating." Jiraiya said. "...What will you do if the senseis request a early promotion?"

"That's simple," Hiruzen said with a smile. "Deny the request of course. Yagura is far too young I believe. Plus, if Kiri catches sight of him, there is hell to pay and a early war. And I believe Yagura will become something truly great if nurtured right. He will stick with his age group for now, and it'll stay that way. It'll take an early war for me to change my mind." Hiruzen said.

"Did you know that he takes interest in fuinjutsu?" Jiraiya said with a smirk.

"Really? That's quite unusual, especially for a child." Hiruzen said in a thinking pose. "Interesting."

"He's no normal child, that much is for sure. I think I'll take him up on a spar today. We saw his taijutsu moves, but imagine how good he is when using that staff. He did tell us it was his main combat tool."

"That might be interesting. I might just be watching in on that spar." Hiruzen said.

"At least I learned one crucial lesson to this spying orb," Jiraiya said grinng like a mad man.

"Oh? And what is that?" Hiruzen asked.

"I know how to get a rise out of the gaki now! Who knew he was so sensitive about his height!" Jiraiya all but shouted, Hiruzen merely face palmed.

"Jiraiya... get out of my office." Hiruzen said but Jiraiya was already gone. "He's such a immature and reckless adult... I wonder if placing him with Yagura was a wrong decision..." he muttered glancing at the paperwork with twitching eyes. **Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!** (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

He let out a relieved sigh at the sight of the burning paper as he reminded himself to get a copy of today's paperwork before taking his leave from the office by the window.

.

It was an early evening when Jiraiya finally decided to test out Yagura's current skill level, and perhaps get an idea of his potential.

Yagura was at that moment busy training in a field, and just by observing Jiraiya couldn't help but admire and look in awe. Yagura was at that moment practising his suiton jutsu control, and just by one look, Jiraiya imagined a future Yagura rivaling that of the nidaime hokage at suiton jutsus.

Yagura didn't perform any specific jutsus other than creating a pond. He had afterwards tried to manipulate the water to his will, getting a feel for the water, for future practises with suiton jutsus.

He knew he was quite prodigious in the arts from Yagura's memories, and from the few history lessons they learned of Yagura while he was in the academy as Naruto he could literally see the potential. Yagura had been close to the nidaime hokage's skill level in suiton jutsus, and not much else was known other than he was strong.

Yagura knew that relying on ninjutsu was a bad thing. He could somewhat see himself excelling in taijutsu and kenjutsu to a proper degree. He was fast and flexible. He was small which might be an advantage, as he was a harder target to hit.

The fact that his combat style, both close combat and ranged combat relied on one weapon, his staff made it all better. He could surprise his opponents in close range just by switching completely from taijutsu, to kenjutsu, to using jutsus.

It seemed he still excelled in being unpredictable even as Yagura. Although, this time his unpredictability actually made sense and looked smooth.

"That's quite impressive for a short gaki like yourself," Jiraiya commented mentally cheering as Yagura clenched his fists. _'Hah! I managed to get a rise out of him, tsch, this kid is too easy.'_

"I am NOT short!" Yagura shouted back red in the face from anger.

"Whatever you say, brat." Jiraiya said offhandedly. "So, what is it you're doing?"

"I'm training. Or well, that's what I was doing until a certain someone wanted to disturb me," Yagure replied still glaring.

"Tsch, in that case you should be thanking me! I am offering you an all out spar against the future shinobi legend Jiraiya, the gama sage!" Jiraiya boasted.

_'He knows senjutsu already?'_ Yagura pondered. _'Although, he never perfected it, and getting aid from Ma and Pa isn't fair.'_

"An all out spar? Do you think you're ready for that?" Yagura asked with a smirk, anger all forgotten. "I'm not going easy on you, old man."

"Cocky brat. Tell you what, if you get a hit in on me I'll treat you to dinner, how's that sound?"

"...Well, that sounds great. Any restaurant that sells a proper fish dish, and I'm in." _'Fish? Why do I like fish of all things...'_ Yagura pondered.

"...Doesn't gakis like yourself usually dislike fish at this age?" Jiraiya asked chuckling. "Whatever, come at me!"

Which Yagura did, taking a firm grip of his staff he sweeped it towards Jiraiya who smoothly leaped above it. Naruto followed up by another kick at the flying Jiraiya who easily blocked the taijutsu moves from Yagura.

It continued like this for at least 20 seconds until Yagura decided for a different approach, he would never get close enough with taijutsu and kenjutsu alone. He had to stick with nin and genjutsu.

He attempted another kick as he instantly swiped his staff towards Jiraiya's abdomen. Jiraiya prepared for a quick block, but was left surprised as Yagura called out a jutsu. **Water Release: Rising corral ripples!** Yagura shouted as ripples appeared from the ground quickly moving towards Jiraiya.

It was only his quick reflexes that made him jump away in time. He decided to test his opponent's defensive abilities with a fire jutsu, which should in theory be beaten by Yagura easily. **Fire Release: Great Fireball!**

Yagura wasn't one to disappoint as he almost subconsciously used a defensive jutsu to wipe out the flames. **Water Release: Tearing Torrent! **Yagura said extinguishing the flames, somewhat smirking as Jiraiya got all wet. It was a defensive technique, and didn't do any harm, but Jiraiya getting wet was only a bonus.

At least he felt great about it, until the wet Jiraiya poofed away. _'Kage bunshin... but then... gah!'_ Yagura thought as his reflexes saved him from a strike from the perverted sage. It seemed Jiraiya wanted to test his taijutsu and buinjutsu/kenjutsu.

Yagura could tell Jiraiya was holding back, but he didn't mind. This meant that he could finally go all out and test his limits, and he could very well say he was beyond pleased. For a 7 year old he truly did kick ass.

They kept at it for another 5 minutes until Jiraiya decided enough was enough. He did another **Fire Release: Great Fireball!** This time however, Yagura surprised Jiraiya immensely with one jutsu.

**Water Release: Water Mirror Technique! **Yagura shouted as he smoothly oscillated the staff in circles. Once the fireball collided, the somewhat big fireball reflected back towards Jiraiya who kawarimed away.

"Impressive technique," Jiraiya muttered under his breath with a smirk. He continued his parade of attacks again, surprising Yagura with a kick to his stomach sending him flying. Yagura didn't bother standing up after that, he was exhausted and standing up at that moment wasn't one of his urges at that moment as he struggled to get some breath.

"You're quite good gaki. I won't go as far as to say you could rival a jonin, but you're definitely near the chunin level. Your water jutsus are done to perfection, and your taijutsu isn't too sloppy either. You pass, let's go get some food." Jiraiya said complimenting Yagura who gave a weak smile back.

.

Jiraiya and Yagura had just finished eating, Jiraiya had excused himself to finish off some work which Yagura guessed happened to be 'research'. Yagura had quickly left the restaurant as well, walking along the village getting a better idea of the environment of a Konoha prior to Kurama's attack and Nagato's attack.

He was quite surprised though by the sudden sounds coming from his mind, which sort of unnerved him. He knew who it was, it was the sanbi who was waking up. He was both excited and nervous about this meeting.

He found a secluded area to 'meditate' and perhaps meet the waking bijuu and have a talk. If he was in any luck the bijuu might actually be a patient and bearable partner for his new life. He got his answear as he entered his mindscape...

"**Hmm... so you're my new jailor, aren't you?" **A loud and quite intemidating voice roamed from every direction. Yagura was quite surprised by the new mindscape, it wasn't a sewer anymore. It was more like a swamp with quite a lot of water and obnoxious plants. He wasn't sure if he preferred this over a sewer.

"Hai, that I am sanbi-san." Yagura replied without a studder or sign of being intemidated. "I see you finally woke up. To be quite frank, I have been looking forward to meeting you." Yagura said politely.

"**...That is a surprise. Why would _you_ look forward to meeting a being of _evil_ and pure _destruction_, who obviously would by my mere _presence_ affect and influence your very being?" **Sanbi said clearly sarcastic.

"..." Yagura remained silent for a while before he chuckled, which turned into laughter. "You're so different from Kurama it's unreal!" Yagura said in between fits of laughter. However, the name Kurama caught sanbi's attention.

"**Kurama as in... who?" **Sanbi asked.

"Kurama also known as kyuubi." Yagura replied quickly and straight to the point. "I suppose this requires some story telling, am I right?... Isobu," Yagura said smirking at the immediate reaction from the turtle infront of him.

"**Y-you know my name? But how?" **Isobu replied studdering in a almost shy and shocked manner which Yagura couldn't help but chuckle at.

"Would you believe me if I told you I inherited some memories from the future?" Yagura said catching Isobu's attention. "It's confusing, but I'm still trying to get the facts straight. I'm not sure if I am Yagura, or this Naruto person whose memories invaded me a few weeks ago." Yagura started sitting in a thinking pose for a while.

"Anyway. I'm from the future, which is where I learned your name from. This Naruto met you and the other bijuus, where as you told him your name along with the others. At this point in time he attempted to save you all from your prison, and the possible reforming of the juubi." Yagura said but stopped as Isobu interrupted him.

"**Juubi? Someone attempted to reform our older destructive form?" **Isobu asked clearly unnerved and slightly afraid.

"You're definitely more different from Kurama. I'm sure we'll get along just fine. Even though Kurama was a nice buddy to have, he was _really_ good at annoying people," Yagura said offhandedly. "Anyway, to answear your question, then yes and no. 30-40 years from now an organisation called the akatsuki will attempt to reform the juubi. However, the people leading the group is merely children at this time. My appearance in the past will automatically change everything happening in the future, so I can't be sure of anything." Yagura said.

"**I see. However, my doubts of you being from the future, or recieving memories from the future have been thrown away. I have never told anyone my true name, and Kurama would only tell people who earned his respect. I'll look forward to getting to know the person gaining the respect of Kurama." **Isobu said with mirth.

"I am however confused. You see. My memories from Naruto states that the Yagura from the future, who might I add was dead and reanimed by a forbidden jutsu. He and I were caught in a time rift jutsu, which somehow ripped us to the past, in a child like Yagura with only memories of his 7 years of age. However, Naruto's body had disappeared and all his memories is now fresh in my mind. This leads me to believe... that Kurama also knows of the future, perhaps. He is currently sealed inside of one Uzumaki Kushina who is my, eh, Naruto's mom and the current jinchuuriki of Kurama."

"**Interesting. So you inherited this Naruto's memories. I suppose it could benefit us some. Don't worry about retelling your whole life story, I will look in your memories if you will allow me?" **Isobu asked.

Yagura smiled back, "of course. I'll lessen the seal to your liking. You'll hopefully be able to alter your surroundings to your preference, and the ability to communicate with me through my mind."

"**Thanks. By the way, what do you want me to call you, young one?" **Isobu asked in almost a sage like voice.

"You sounded really old just then. Which you are. Never mind. You can call me Yagura," he said smiling.

"**So be it Yagura. I'm looking forward to being your partner in the future," **Isobu replied.

Yagura who had messed a bit with the seal merely smiled back, "likewise Isobu. I'll see you around," he said fading away back to reality.

_'That's one problem solved,'_ Yagura thought with a smile. _'At least Isobu isn't as stubbon as Kurama. Bless that monster sized turtle.'_

_'I would prefer you didn't refer to me as monster sized turtle...' _Isobu replied as Yagura sweatdropped.

_'...Sorry, I suppose I should find a more suitable nickname. Kurama was furball, I'll find one for you eventually.'_

Meanwhile Isobu had been looking through a few of Yagura's memories and found a suitable nickname. _'Sounds okay with me, shorty! I'll see you around.' _Isobu replied quickly turning off the connection with his vessel.

_'I'M NOT SMALL! YOU HEAR ME?!... HEY!'_ Yagura roared in his mind recieving only silence. Silently cursing the turtle he walked away swearing to find a proper nickname for the turtle.

.

Over the last month Jiraiya already knew Yagura was an odd and unusual person he'd have to live with for now. He had been practising with Yagura in spars, and sealing tutorials and learned quite a lot about him. He was calm, had a fierce temper if someone messed with him enough, but his insight and mentality spoke of someone much older than him. Sometimes he felt like _he _was the one being talked down to.

Yagura was clearly a prodigy never seen before, and that wasn't including his weird special abilities. He had some weird jutsus, which involved creating corals, he didn't even have an answear, as to how he used it himself. Truth be told, it was an ability inherited from Isobu also known as the sanbi, but Jiraiya and Hiruzen couldn't know that anytime soon.

Jiraiya had also caught several moments when Yagura's face expressions suddenly changed from passive to frustration, angry, joy and mirth. He had sudden moodswings and always seemed to think elsewhere or unfocused until someone caught his attention. Although Jiraiya knew he was always aware of immediate danger, a good trait for a shinobi.

Despite all this, Yagura seemed to be a great shinobi. Not many would catch on to it, but Jiraiya and obviously the professor Hiruzen had caught him on it. Yagura was always aware of his surroundings, and he already knew his surroundings perfectly, as well as the ninjas in the area.

They figured that Yagura indeed had inherited a minor sensory ability. He was able to locate ninjas within 25 meters range, which wasn't much, but still an useful ability. Yagura's response to this was that he thought it to be a average ability and never brought it up.

Despite his maturity at such a young age, Jiraiya and Hiruzen was quite happy and content that Yagura seemed to have gotten friends, and quite a few admires. He had a normal life, at least as normal a life someone like Yagura could.

He had gotten a few rivals in the academy, and even more friends. It seemed not only Jiraiya and Hiruzen was the only ones to realise that getting Yagura's attention and friendship was to approach him yourself.

He had gotten a few comments about being an outsider, but that quickly stopped as he didn't show particular interest in the comments. Nor did he take the bait for other petty insults, except for the ones concerning his height. People quickly learned to stop calling him that.

Hiruzen hadn't quite gotten over the fact that Yagura had visited him in his office, by order of the principle of the academy concerning two broken legs and a broken arm on a academy student, with Yagura as the guilty assailant.

That particular act had seemingly gotten him respect from the boys in the class, at least to stop bothering him. From there on out, some of them got the courage to speak with him, and learn that he wasn't a particular bad guy. Minato was especially one of those people, who felt comfortable having someone even _more_ mature than him in their age group.

Yagura quickly became the epitome of the cool guy in the class, even though he didn't know this yet. That was something Jiraiya often joked about - his denseness.

The reports about him in class often came out positive. He was the highest in class in every field, and a very focused student. He grabbed information like a sponge, and even added his own knowledge to several fields.

He had even been requested a _chunin_ promotion by one of the teachers, despite not being out of the academy yet. This sort of spotlight on Yagura wasn't particular something Hiruzen wanted, but was especially glad at how well Yagura performed. Especially at the way he gladly returned the help to people who asked for his help.

Still, sometimes Jiraiya felt like Yagura was socially awkward. Yagura had often told him how immature and annoying _kids_ could be. That comment had earned him a laugh, since Yagura technically was still a kid.

However, today was also the day Yagura would decide whether he would continue with his citizenship in hi no kuni and a shinobi in training for konohagukare no sato. A month had passed since their deal had been made, and Hiruzen was eager to recieve an answear, even though he was certain what the answear would be.

His thoughts were taken away as the door slid open, and Yagura walked inside with his current guardian, Jiraiya. Hiruzen took the time to once again admire Yagura's attire which always seemed so foreign. The very same outfit he had worn every day in Konoha, and somehow made a new trend for people.

"Hokage-sama." Yagura greeted with a bow and a smile.

Hiruzen gave a nod in return and a smile, "Yagura-san, please take a seat." he said which Yagura didn't hesitate at all in doing so. "So, what is your decision regarding citizenship in hi no kuno and becoming a shinobi in training for Konoha?"

"I accept." Yagura replied with no hesitation, Jiraiya and Hiruzen merely smiled, not surprised in the least. "Although, when Kiri realises who I am. Don't complain about paperwork," Yagura said eying the already big pile on the table. He had told Hiruzen of a _weird_ experience where he was dragged into his mindscape, and had a talk with the sanbi. He had gotten the story of his burden from Hiruzen and Jiraiya from there.

He wasn't lying, he had been dragged in by the sanbi. The only lie was, he already knew of his condition. At least this way he could talk freely about it, should be need help regarding the seal or other sorts of problems. He had been strictly told to tell of noone but Hiruzen and Jiraiya. So far only those 3 knew of his condition, and Yagura took that advice to heart. He wouldn't even tell Kushina, not for another decade or two at least.

"Don't worry about that," Hiruzen replied, fearing more of the politics rather the paperwork itself regarding Yagura. "I'll take care of that. For now, it would be best to sign a few paper contracts, as well as get an apartment for yourself seeing as Jiraiya's _mission_ is over with."

Yagura sighed, "can't I just keep the current apartment? It's not like Jiraiya-jiji stayed at home anyway. It's more my home than his, just throw him out instead of me!" Yagura said crossing his arms, which was a trait he never really got rid off.

"...I can do that instead as well," Hiruzen replied not quite sure why he didn't think of that. "You'll recieve a monthly allowance until you're ready to work as a genin for the village and earn your own money. You'll get an account and the same rights as a citizen of Konoha."

"Sounds fair enough to me." Yagura replied as he checked the papers, nodding in agreement as he wrote his signature which surprised Jiraiya and Hiruzen quite a lot. That wasn't a signature for a child, most adults didn't even have such a signature. They had expected him to write his name in a childish fashion, not like a businessman. "I practised the signature. Don't worry, you'd be surprised at how many people from my class wants me to write on their bandages, books or just some random material. Beats me why they ask." Yagura said.

Hiruzen and Jiraiya merely sweatdropped at how such a genius could be so dense. He didn't even realise his popularity and the fact that all of those requests was from girls. "I'm sure you'll understand some day," Jiraiya replied with a heavy sigh. "You're only 8 years after all."

It was quite a surprise to the both of them when they realised Yagura's birthday had been 5 days after he mentioned it. It just showed how little worth Kiri treated Yagura as a human being. Not even realising the need for a celebration at a birthday.

The irony in that was actually, it wasn't Kiri's fault for Yagura's neglect of his own birthday. But Konoha itself, since Naruto never had celebrated any birthdays. Yagura decided to keep that point to himself and simply agreed with their logic.

"Whatever ero-jiraiya-jiji." Yagura replied with a snort. "Is that all hokage-sama?"

"Yes, I believe that is it for now. From this day on, you don't have a guardian, and I will gladly be the first to welcome you to your new home, Kenji Yagura." Hiruzen said with a true smile.

"Thanks for taking me in hokage-sama," Yagura replied genuienly happy with a smile of his own. "I'll take my leave then. See you later hokage-sama, and ero-jiji."

As the door slammed Jiraiya scoffed, "he's such a brat. He'll look back on these days some day and scream at how stupid he was. If he played it right, he would be a lady killer in a few years."

Hiruzen laughed at that, "he's still in the age where he probably thinks girls are gross and weird. Despite his maturity, he's still just a kid."

"It's getting harder and harder to remember that though." Jiraiya said. "Whatever, I'll take my leave then. I've been staying in Konoha for way too long anyway, I wonder what Tsunade-hime is up to," he said with a giggle which Hiruzen chose to ignore. He simply sighed as Jiraiya left, secretly hoping for a soon release of the series icha icha after reading the first version himself.

"I wonder when Jiraiya wants to settle down, perhaps take over the hokage seat..." he muttered. "...he's probably gonna teach that Minato whom always calls out for his dream to become hokage just to stay away from the job himself. Perhaps Orochimaru..." he muttered sighing as he once again focused on the paperwork focusing on the soon to be shinobi war.

Even though he didn't like it one bit. The academy students would have to graduate earlier, and the current genins would recieve promotions despite the lack of skill and experience.

The next few years would be harsh times, and he knew it. However, at least the young generation showed more promise than ever, and that was something he would protect at all cost.

"Perhaps it is time to step up the game..." he muttered taking one last look at the paperwork sighing as he resumed his work. Promotions was in order, and he had to prepare for war. Chunin was needed, and genin had to replace the chunin for the village work.


	3. Genin promotion and Team

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Naruto and every character of Naruto's story belongs to Kishimoto Masashi.

It didn't come as a shock, but more like a surprise to Yagura when the sandaime hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen declared that Konoha was in war. He had so far been in Konoha for 5 months, and already knew that the the second shinobi world war would start eventually. The civilians, as well as the shinobis was in a hurry to prepare.

Weapons, supplies, food, everything had to be prepared. Masses of jonin and chunin would be placed on the borders to fight for territory and goods, which would most likely cost most of them their lives. Many of the current unexperienced genin had recieved promotions to chunin, despite having a good reason except war time for this.

The academy had been pushed forward. The historical subjects, as well as math had been pushed away. Only combat training remained. Konoha needed soldiers and they needed them now. This also meant that the current academic students would have their exam at a earlier time than expected – 2 years earlier in fact.

Shinobis in training, and the current shinobis at duty wasn't the only people whose lifestyle was changed by the war. Many civilians was taken away to the borders as well, many of them being cooks, getting paid cooking for the shinobis as well as weapons from blacksmiths, tailored clothes and medical tools was being supplied.

Many people would be sacrifised for the war, but they would gladly do all this for Konoha to come out at the top.

And quite frankly, Yagura couldn't help but feel slightly pleased at the oppourtunity at passing just a few years earlier than expected, despite the reason being war time. it had to happen sooner or later he reasoned. He would learn more, and not just sit around in Konoha doing nothing, conversing with a proud pervert, or occationally talking with a hokage stuck in paperwork. He couldn't say that talking with his peers around his age wasn't fun at times, but sometimes so very annoying too.

That was probably mostly why he kept sitting in the most secluding of places, and only socialised when other people initiated a conversation with him, and not the other way around.

That usually meant he seemed more social than he usually was, since the children his age wasn't shy whatsoever. In fact, they seemed to flock around him, which he honestly didn't know what to think about. It was Naruto's dream to get such attention, although to the Yagura part it was an annoyance.

Over the months Yagura had gotten used to the idea of having Naruto's memories, and made good use of them. His chakra reserves made it possible to use kage bunshin during most of his training exercises, although he did this in private.

He had spent 5 months so far in the academy, and ironically learned more about combat, than his previous life as Naruto did within 5 whole years. They weren't kidding when they wanted to push more shinobis out to the battlefield, although Yagura _knew_ Hiruzen would be hesitant to take genin on to the battlefield until it became required.

So far the war hadn't been going for long, which means the genin didn't have to fear for that option yet. They would surely spend a few years in Konoha before moving out, and even then they wouldn't be put on the frontline. But one might never know, and Yagura didn't know Hiruzen enough in this timeline to fear the use of a 'living weapon' despite not having any control whatsoever of the bijuu's powers, yet.

However, this day was also a quite important day for Yagura and his fellow academy peers. Today was the graduation exam to become a genin, which was two years earlier than expected before the war time.

Everyone expected Yagura and Minato to pass the exam with barely any effort, seeing as they were the prodigies of the class. Yagura had been positively impressed by Minato quite a lot over the few months he spent in the academy.

Yagura had no doubt that Minato would have surpassed him ages ago, had he not been cheating somehow with the extra knowledge from Naruto, even though it was abysmal, despite having a few strong techniques. However, Yagura felt that he owed Minato the honor of using those techniques for himself.

He would make a name himself rather than rely on techniques developed by other people. Even the rasenshuriken was considered a bastardized version of the rasengan in his opinion, and it was even Kakashi coming up with the idea himself.

No... this time around Yagura would show his own worth, and make his own legend. He wouldn't rely on the work of others, and his goal for his new life was to up Minato one all the time. He had to work hard, that he knew. The hiraishin was an impressive jutsu, and to overcome that, he had to work hard.

But for now he would simply enjoy being superior to the other blonde.

"So how did the exam go?" Yagura asked curiously at Minato. He simply wanted a few hints at what the exam required.

"It went smooth, I think. It could have been better, but I nailed it anyway," Minato replied with a flashy grin.

Yagura nodded back at him with a smile. He noted that Kushina came back out of the room with a headband, although she seemed to glare at anyone within her sight. Yagura chose to look away wisely. Kushina hadn't opened up to him too much, not that he tried.

They had only spoken a few times, and figured they had a few things in common. They didn't mind eachother, but unfortunately they couldn't quite call themself friends, like he could with Minato.

It didn't seem like Minato had any such luck either getting into Kushina's better circle, which Yagura mocked him about quite a lot. It was no secret amongst the two, about Minato's obsession with the redhaired tomboyish girl.

"Kenji Yagura, please step inside." Michi called out into the room. Yagura didn't hesitate in the least, he seemed anxious and wanted this over with quickly. He recieved a few good lucks which he nodded back with a small smile. He recieved a grin and a thumbs up from Minato, which he mirrored.

As he stepped into the other classroom he noticed three instructors, none of them being his usual teachers. It seemed they did this as to not play favorites.

"Kenji Yagura. Welcome, and good luck with the exam. To start off we'll be doing the three traditional academic jutsus and move on from there. Please perform a bunshin, kawarimi and henge for us."

Yagura nodded as he formed handseals. **Mizu bunshin no jutsu! Bunshin no jutsu!** He called out as six clones arrived, three of each. He recieved a nod as three of the clones disappeared forming a few puddles on the ground causing a few instructors to frown.

He followed that up by performing the kawarimi with a chair and a table. Afterwards he did three henges of the three instructors infront of him which they nodded at seemingly pleased.

"Very great Yagura. Please follow Hiro-san outside where we will valuate your taijutsu skill, and end it there. Unless you have more to show of course, such as a self learned jutsu, it will come into play in the exam if you're able to do that."

Yagura merely gave a nod back as they walked out of the room for the training grounds. He noticed that the sparring ring seemed almost destroyed from the previous fights, no doubt Tsume, Kushina and Minato was the reason to this. They were the only ones destructive enough to fight at _that_ degree.

"When you're ready Yagura," Hiro said smirking as Yagura snapped back to reality.

"I'm ready sensei." Yagura said as he threw his staff to the ground as well as his green coat which he wore due to it being winter. He would never tell Minato that he got the idea from his future hokage cloak. He couldn't fight with the coat on though. He went into his stance smirking back. "Here I go!" he yelled leaping towards his sensei.

They brawled for a bit, but Yagura became slightly frustrated, not enough to lose his calm. Yagura never lost his calm unless-

"Is that all you got shorty?" Hiro asked smirking, not knowing the immediate danger he just caused.

Yagura's eyes narrowed, _'he's so gonna get it'_. Without further warning Yagura repeatedly put his taijutsu moves to great use, working harder than ever just to score those few hits on his sensei, whom Yagura believed deserved a bad beating.

Yagura didn't care that his sensei seemed to retaliate out of shock, and instictly accidently ripped his shirt to pieces in a defensive maneuver. Yagura simply kept on pushing Hiro backwards, as he kept the advantage of the fight. It was a great thing too that Yagura had the stamina required to fight like this.

He aimed a punch at Hiro's abdomen, which was one of the few spots he could actually aim at due to his height. He was blocked with no problem, but a quick slide kick from Yagura caused Hiro to lose balance. At this moment he continued it up by a side kick straight to the side of Hiro, listening with satisfaction from the groan of pain.

He followed that up by humiliating Hiro further by grabbing the man, who was at least twice the height as him and threw him straight out of the ring to the muddy grounds. He flashed a evil smirk at Hiro, until he heard the clapping from his other senseis.

"Great job Yagura, a bit on the rough side, but definitely a worthy show." one of the unknown senseis said grinning at the muddy Hiro who gave a dirty look at Yagura.

"Hey, you broke my shirt. Pay back is sweet," Yagura said back frowning at his clothing. "And it was a gift too... damn." he muttered.

"The exam is over now, unless you got something special to show." Hiro said grumbling as he muttered about too skilled brats this year. It seemed this wasn't the first time he got beaten.

"Just one jutsu?" he asked and recieved three nods in return. "Alright... I believe I have one." he said walking towards a few water puddles for the extra aid.

**Suiton: Ja no Kuchi! **He called out as a snake of water appeared, rushing towards one of the few trees in the training ground. The academy teachers watched intrigued as the water snake collided with the tree and exploded into a river, meant to carry away the enemy, although the tree remained stuck.

"Impressive jutsu Yagura. You pass with flying colors!" one of the senseis called out, Yagura grinned in return as he recieved a hitai-ate, quickly tying it around his right biceps.

As he returned to the previous classroom, he simply gave a thumbs up and a smug grin back at Minato who mirrored it. They were doing just fine, and Yagura expected nothing less but rookie of the year. Although he had to fix the broken shirt problem first, he recieved too many unfamiliar looks which unnerved him greatly.

.

"Rookie of the Year – Namikaze Minato!" Hiro shouted out recieving a loud gasp from Yagura. "It was a close game for the first place, but it seems Yagura was just a tiny bit behind."

Yagura couldn't believe it. He simply sat there, mouth open. Just _how_ did Minato actually beat him? He was flawless! He was perfect, he did nothing but perfect! How!

He glanced at Minato who grinned mockingly back at him. The class seemed as surprised as Yagura, just what had happened?

Yagura wasn't a bad loser, despite how much it hurt his pride, he would accept his loss like a good friend. He wouldn't be a sore loser, and Minato truly deserved praise for actually being such a genious. He was a worthy rookie of the ye-

"It seems you aren't too perfect after all, huh, shorty?" Minato said grinning in his victory rush. The classroom quietened down to icy levels, which Minato remained oblivious to. He simply grinned, until he felt killing intent for the first time in his life. He glanced back at Yagura, whose eyes he imagined flashed red for a moment.

"...I didn't call him that nickname did I?" he muttered in horror.

"_IAMNOT_**_SMALL_ **NAMIKAZE! I'M GONNA FREAKING PLOW YOUR FACE TO THE GROUND YOU PITIFUL EXCUSE OF A SHINOBI!" Yagura spat out as he leaped towards Minato, who impressed everyone even Yagura with his speed as he ran out of the classroom pale faced. Yagura growled as he simply trailed after him throwing shuriken in every direction as the rest of the classroom followed them to their best ability, although the two superior rookie genins were too quick for them to follow.

The following day, people weren't too surprised when a smug looking Yagura sat stoic faced in his usual seat, grinning at a blonde haired genin with bandages from top to toe. "Serves you right, Namikaze." Yagura said still grinning.

Minato simply sighed, he really didn't know what was worse. The beating from Yagura, or the humiliation of being dragged by ANBU to the hokage's office for disrupting the peace on the street. He realised just then that Yagura seemed quite familiar with the hokage and was let off easy, where as Minato...

He was forced to listen to a white haired man in his late twenties talking about several orange books, which Minato clearly didn't take an interest in. He didn't realise it yet, but he had simply been conversing with his soon to be sensei as punishment.

"Listen up class! I'm not gonna call up the teams, however, there is a few papers sticked to the walls stating your team as well as your sensei. Now, I'll just say that it's been a joy teaching you lot, and that I believe you'll all do great stuff in the future. You're by far one of the most skilled classes I've taught. And good luck with your career!" she shouted as she left the room recieving waves in return.

Yagura quickly found a paper himself. He wasn't too surprised to see Minato on Jiraiya's team, although his team surprised him somewhat. Not that he complained about the sensei, but the team itself seemed weird. Mostly a assasult team if anything.

Team 4 – Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, Akamichi Choza. - Sensei Sarutobi Isao.

Team 5 – Uzumaki Kushina, Uchiha Mikoto, Kenji Yagura. - Sensei Hatake Sakumo.

Team 6 – Inuzuka Tsume, Hyuuga Hizashi, Aburame Shibi. - Sensei Umino Harumi.

Team 7 – Namikaze Minato, Hyuuga Hiashi, Uzuki Kamiko. - Sensei Jiraiya.

Yagura did know that most team cells would be two boys and a girl. He also knew that the class itself had a few more girls than normal, which would change that tradition a bit. He didn't mind though, Mikoto was quite skilled, and Kushina could pack a punch as well. Their sensei was a famous ninja as well, which Yagura appreciated. He had heard of previous Ino-shika-cho trios, and another creation of such a team didn't come as a surprise to him.

They all waited for a few hours until their respective senseis decided to show up. The first ones going were team 4 and 6 along with a few others whom he never really had gotten to know very well.

The next one coming was a man who resembled Kakashi a great lot – at least the hair and eye part. At least he was quite sure this was Kakashi's father, and his sensei. He didn't miss the irony one bit, at how he ended up with a second Hatake as his genin squad sensei.

However, he was confused as to why such a renowned shinobi was bothering to take on a genin team during a war. It didn't make much sense to Yagura, since the stories told of Sakumo made him out to be on par with the three sannin combined.

Had he not failed a seemingly important mission, then he might even have become Hiruzen's succesor. Yep, he had gotten a quite skilled sensei, but the reason behind this didn't make much sense.

Then again, he probably thought too much about things. Namikze Minato had a genin squad of his own, and he was a SS-ranked ninja at that point in time. Even as he completed his task as yondaime hokage did he take time off to do missions with his team.

"Team 5, come with me." Sakumo ordered with authority. Yagura felt his body follow the order in an instant.

They stopped near a bench where Sakumo gestured to sit down. "Alright... it's tradition for konoha shinobis to tell about yourselves before you start working as a team. This is done to make comradeship, as well as work better as a team. I'll go first. My name is Hatake Sakumo, I like training and my wife. My dislikes are arrogant fools, and traitors. My dream is to make a family, and possibly make a big name of myself. Your turn shorty." Sakumo said.

Kushina and Mikoto paled at that glancing at the quite shorter member of the group, whose eyes was twitching. They could easily tell he considered yelling back, or not. Sakumo was quite famous around Konoha, but then again, Yagura's temper was legendary when someone called him short.

"_IAMNOTSMALL!__" _Yagura screamed back, which would have made a certain former pink haired teammate of his proud in her younger days. Sakumo was slightly taken back but merely smirked.

Yagura continued as his eyes remained twitching. "I'm Kenji Yagura. I like training, and reading. My dislikes are... traitors and people who calls me short!" at this he glared at Sakumo who almost flinched. "My hobbies is..." he blushed, "cooking, reading and looking after my borrowed garden... my dream is to make a big name of myself." he said sighing in relief when it was over.

"You like cooking?" Kushina asked.

"You like gardening?" Mikoto asked.

"Reading?" Sakumo asked.

"...Yes? Got a problem with that?" Yagura asked giving them a dangerous look which made them quieten down. Not that they didn't snicker inside their minds.

"Your turn redhead." Sakumo said.

"Fine! I'm Uzumaki Kushina. My likes are training, ramen and dango! My hobbies are training, pranking. My dislikes are arrogant assholes, as well as pocky. My dream is to become the first female hokage 'ttebane!" she shouted fist pumping in the air. Sakumo and Yagura sweatdropped, Mikoto merely smiled weakly at the embarassing display.

"Well... I'm Uchiha Mikoto. My likes are reading, training, as well as watching over my little brother and pocky. My hobbies include training with Kushina-chan, and practising jutsu with my clan. My dislikes are ramen and dango. My dream is to become the first female hokage!" she said slightly less enthustastic than Kushina.

Sakumo smiled, "yep, I like you three. I'll definitely make you three into great genin. Usually a genin test has to be taken, but since it's war time we'll have to take what comes. Tomorrow we will start doing training exercises, and get started on D-rank missions." he said still smiling. "Say... if you all get to chunin rank before Jiraiya's team, dinner is on me for a whole week."

"DEAL!" Kushina quickly shouted, Yagura and Mikoto merely nodded back at the quite intemidating man.

"Great! Team 5 is hereby formed, meet up at training ground 5 eight in the morning, ja ne!" he said disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Yagura stood up giving one glance at his teammates, "well, this isn't too bad of a team. I'm up for destroying Jiraiya's team, and especially _Namikaze's_ team." he said with a evil glint in his eye. "I'll see you later, ja ne!" Thinking of ways to humiliate the blond haired prodigy.

"Minato and Yagura is too obsessed with that rivalry," Mikoto commented dryly.

"Tsch, whatever. At least he's not a pansy like that Minato!" Kushina said bluntly. "And he's got a point. We're gonna show off that blondy's team and whoever that Jiraiya guy is. Sakumo-sensei is gonna regret ever having food on the line, 'ttebane!" Mikoto simply sighed as the two friends walked off once again.

Yagura didn't get to walk quite far until the presence of Sakumo appeared. He was quite surprised, due to the serious gaze given to him by Sakumo. "Yagura. We need to talk," he said in a tone of absolute authority. Yagura could only nod in return.

They walked for a few minutes until they arrived at a secluded area where Sakumo placed a few seals for privacy. "I spoke with hokage-sama earlier today, and he told me about something important regarding you." he said as Yagura's eyes widened slightly. "I know you're a jinchuuriki, Yagura. Although, you don't have to worry. I don't think less of you, quite the opposite." Sakumo said trying to reassure Yagura.

"...Well, that's a relief." Yagura said feeling like a heavy burden had just been placed on him, just to be ripped away within seconds. "I don't know what else to say really. Only you and hokage-sama, as well as Jiraiya knows about this."

Sakumo nodded, "that is true, and it will remain like that for now. However, I recieved a few seals by Jiraiya should your seal weaken, or should you run out of control. These seals," he said gesturing at a few seals Yagura knew all too well from Naruto's memories. "Are suppression seals specifically made for jinchuurikis. I don't know how someone actually got the idea to make one, considering how rare jinchuurikis are. But then again, I'm not the genius. To be fair, I imagined them to be myths until earlier today."

Yagura simply smiled weakly back, "well, that's a relief once again, eh? But you don't have too worry too much. I haven't used my bijuu's chakra yet. Although, I'm sure that one day I might have to practise a bit. But not until then." Sakumo nodded back. "Anything else Sakumo-sensei?"

"Mhm... nope, that's about it. I'll see ya around shorty." he said casually once again disappearing in a poof of smoke barely avoiding the slam of a quickly drawn staff.

"Teme!"

.

It wasn't too surprising for Yagura when the almost mummified Minato appeared next to him at their usual meeting place. Yagura almost felt bad for hurting Minato to that extenct – almost.

"Hey, what's up Yagura? How's your team?" Minato asked as happily as always.

"It's fine. Kushina and Mikoto aren't too bad, and Sakumo is a decent sensei I guess. Although, I'm gonna beat him to a pulp first thing tomorrow." Yagura said glaring at nothing in particular.

"...He didn't call you sh- did he call you that name?" Minato asked, he didn't get an answear, although the loud sound of gritting teeth was enough of an answear. "You know, you might actually have become rookie of the year, had the senseis harassed you enough with that nickname."

"...They did." Yagura replied dryly, clearly still not over that _minor_ defeat. Minato merely roared with laughter at that, ignoring the twitching eyes of Yagura.

With one quick succesful attempt at shutting the blonde up, Yagura asked the one question Minato wished for. "So how was your team?"

If Minato's smile could get any wider, Yagura was sure he would get scarred for life.

"It wasn't too bad... Jiraiya might be an oddball, but I think I like him." Minato said still smiling.

"Oh, is that so?" Yagura said rolling his eyes. "I lived with him for a month, and I'll definitely not do that again!"

Minato chuckled but waved it off. "No, you see. I was injuried enough to pass up on a test, but my teammates wasn't lucky enough." he said grinning again. "It seems Jiraiya-sensei has a thing for toads. He literally forced them into toad costumes as a part of the test! I've never seen Hiashi so embarassed and angry in my life! You shoulda seen it, and Kamiko's look of pure panic just made my day!" he all but shouted with laughter.

"No way..." Yagura muttered, his libs twitching into a smile at the thought of Hiashi in a frog like costume.

"Yes way! Apparantly that wasn't the first time Jiraiya did such a test. Although, I believe his prior students was from a kindergarten..." Minato muttered in a thinking pose.

"...Did you get any pictures?" Yagura asked, Minato furiously nodded. Yagura couldn't help but laugh, and demand copies.

.

The very next day was a golden day for team 5. They had at first expected to do training exercises, and complete boring D-ranks. However, Yagura brought a better idea, which Sakumo and Kushina all too quickly agreed with.

Now, Yagura wasn't too much of a prankster as Naruto had used to be. But the pictures of the stoic Hyuuga clan heir in a frog costume, doing training exercises was simply too hilarious. Their team exercise was simply to plant copies of Jiraiya's team exercise all over the village, and if anyone ever caught them. He would simply blame Kushina, simple as.

He could tell that Kushina was slightly impressed. He guessed it was fair to take the honor for the work, since Minato basically did steal his rookie of the year title. Serves the blondy right.

After covering around 200 pictures all over the village, as a training exercise. The rules was clear, none of them would get caught. They recieved 50 pictures each, and the first to get caught had to pay for lunch. Unluckily none of them lost, so they went back to D-ranks.

To be fair, Yagura did actually lose the bet a dozen of times. He had first been stopped by a suspicious ANBU who after a simple second's glance at the picture patted him on the head and disappeared.

The second person to catch him was even more amusing. A branch Hyuuga member with her byakugan activated had sneaked up on him, as great a feat that actually was. He was a sensory type ninja after all, and the Hyuuga was obviously skilled.

She had caught him in a prank and was about to scold him, but she too glanced at the picture and smiled sweetly with a comment of 'good kid' and walked off. Yagura didn't know what to make out of it, perhaps walking around with embarassing pictures of Hiashi was the way to get out of any trouble. He had to speak with Kushina about this some other time.

.

"Is this really missions?" Kushina asked frowning.

"I'm already doing this at home enough..." Mikoto almost whimpered.

"I'm sorry, but that's life Mikoto, don't you agree Yagura, Kushina?" Sakumo said.

"Uhum, definitely Sakumo-sensei. Definitely." Yagura replied nodding sagely along with the redhead.

Team 5's first mission was a simple one. One of the richer civilians was off on a trip with a few of her friends, leaving her one year old baby daughter in the hands of team 5.

It wasn't really Sakumo's or Yagura's fault that the baby kept on screaming, if they even attempted to get near the baby. They didn't really mind, it gave them all too much time to relax while the girls did the work – or well, Mikoto did the work. Kushina was just as lazy if not more regarding babysitting.

"Is it too late to request a new team?" Mikoto asked glaring at her team, or more specifically Kushina with pleading angry eyes, if such a thing was even possible.

"Just hang in there Miko-chan!" Kushina said cheering her on. "You're doing great, I'll even give you some pocky once this is all over!" Mikoto merely grunted in reply.

"Ne... Mikoto, where did Sakumo-sensei and Yagura go?" Kushina asked confused as to where her two teammates disappeared off to.

"No idea," Mikoto replied just as confused, but she had her hands full and didn't really care. That was at least until the sound of blades clashing outside in the garden, brought her attention. She narrowed her eyes in a moment of anger, accidently squeezing the baby roughly causing a cry from the girl.

"Sorry!" Mikoto all but pleaded trying to get the girl to quieten down once again. She glanced up at her other teammate, noticing she was gone as well. She sighed in frustration as she considered requesting full payment alone for this mission, as a solo mission. The sounds of training and fighting from the outside only made her that more determined to get full payment.

.

"Well... that was a waste of time," Yagura muttered with a frown as he watched Mikoto's smug smile counting her ryos.

"I'm not giving you any pocky for that Miko-chan," Kushina muttered also frowning.

"Now come on Mikoto. What did I tell you about earlier? You can't leave your comrades behind, it's simply not in the will of fire." Sakumo commented in a scolding tone.

"Now you _listen!_" she hissed back watching in satisfaction as the three cocky teammates flinched. "I spent _eight_ hours with a crying crybaby who is even more impossible than my little brother! I agree with hokage-sama, you should all feel ashamed of yourself!" Mikoto said pointing an accusing finger at them.

Sakumo sighed, "I suppose you're right. Miss Hikari actually commented on your work, she might request us for another mission soon."

Mikoto glared but remained silent. "No! I want to do real missions!" She hissed, Yagura and Kushina nodding along.

"Hmm... how about gardening tomorrow?" he asked as Yagura's eyes glinted in excitement. "Or painting a fence." he said causing groans of frustration from his teammates. "Or ramen test eaters."

"YES!" Kushina all but shouted.

"I believe he was joking Kushina," Yagura said dryly facepalming. Kushina's mood fell drastically with a 'oh'.

"I'm sorry team, but for the next month we are going to be doing D-ranks. Until then we can't request a C-rank, unless the village requires it. Believe me, once this month is over, we'll be doing C-ranks all the time." Sakumo said as his students seemed satisfied with that.

"Tomorrow we won't be doing any D-ranks though, instead we'll focus on our training. I haven't seen any of you in work yet, which will be a perfect oppourtunity tomorrow. Meet up at training ground 5 at eight once again, and we'll train, unless Yagura hits the jackpot with a great prank once again." Sakumo said.

"Hai sensei!" the three of them shouted in unison dashing off, but not before Yagura gave a smug look at Sakumo disappearing in a cloud of smoke just a few seconds before his sensei.

"Well, the kid's a learner." Sakumo said dryly, "ja ne!" disappearing in a poof of smoke.

.

The next day might seem like one of the worst days for training for some people, especially people from fire country considering the heavy rain. Yagura wasn't one of those people, he as a suiton user couldn't praise his luck more.

He didn't even need to bring his sealed water bottles for today, since there was plenty of water to use. This was also the perfect oppourtunity to showcase his skills for his sensei, whom might give him some pointers or new jutsus.

He had picked up a rain coat and ran towards training ground 5 with a huge smile on his face. As he approached his two teammates with the biggest smile ever present and a mood that couldn't be any better, which confused his two teammates who was sulking at the idea of training in this weather.

"Helllooo my fellow teammates. Wonderful weather today, don't you think?" Yagura said grinning at the heaven which thundered and rained heavily.

"Are you crazy?" Mikoto hissed. "I can't use my fire element at all in this weather. This is gonna be a disaster..." she muttered.

Kushina shrugged, she didn't know her own element and didn't care.

"Hah! I'm in my best field today, water element on a rainy day. It couldn't get any better!" Yagura exclaimed. "Where's our sensei?"

"Behind you." Kushina said smirking.

Yagura didn't believe her, but turned around anyway. He was shocked to see the man standing behind him, giving a quite spooky image as the light from the thunder almost made him flash from black clothing to a ghost like figure with white spiky hair.

"I thought you were a sensory type of ninja, Yagura?" Sakumo asked with mirth.

"I-I am. I don't know why I didn't sense you though, it happened yesterday during that picture placing challenge with a Hyuuga." Yagura said not really noticing his mistake there. It was more of a spur of the moment thing, as he was still slightly unnerved by his sensei's entrance.

"So you _did_ lose after all!" Kushina shouted with an accusing finger.

Yagura slapped a hand to his face realising his error. "...I suppose I did. Anyway, let's forget about that for now and train, yes?" he said clearly not satisfied with the turn of events.

"Right. Mikoto, you'll be fighting me first, okay?" he asked as Mikoto reluctantly nodded.

As the two were in a taijutsu fight Yagura glanced at Kushina as he searched for something in his pocket. "Here, take this." he said giving her a piece of paper.

"What's that?" she asked confused.

Yagura's eyes rolled as he bluntly said. "Element paper. Push chakra through it and see your element for yourself. But keep it somewhere dry from the rain, otherwise you can't see."

Kushina nodded as she took the paper forcing paper through it. She noticed as it became wet instantly. "Damn! The rain must have hit it!" she said furious.

"Ehh... no it didn't. That just means you're a water element user."

"Oh..." she muttered, "is that good?"

Yagura shrugged, "it's alright I suppose. I'm a water element user myself. If you ask me, it kicks ass. Although, it's not the best for offensive techniques, but it's definitely one of the cooler ones. You can trap your enemies with it, as well as make them slide all over the place. You should have seen this one time with Minat-"

"Yagura, you're up!" Sakumo called as a limping Mikoto walked back at her previous spot. Yagura shrugged as he walked towards Sakumo.

"Remember, attack me with the intent to kill, otherwise I won't learn anything about your current level." Sakumo said.

Yagura nodded and immediately withdrew his staff, swinging it towards his sensei who simply grabbed the staff. Yagura expected that, and with the extra help from the staff and his arms swung a heavy kick towards his sensei who merely used his foot to block the attack. Sometimes being short was really a nuisance.

He took a few steps back forming a few handseals. **Mizu no bunshin no jutsu!** He called out as two more Yaguras spread around the field. One of them initiated a taijutsu match with Sakumo who played along. The other Yagura formed another couple of handseals as a ditraction, **Suiton: Ja no Kuchi! **As a snake of water rushed towards Sakumo.

He merely leaped above it, watching with amusement as the mizu bunshin was attacked instead. His amusement ended as another jutsu was called though. **Suirō no Jutsu! **Yagura watched with glee as he captured his sensei in a water prison.

He smugly walked next to the water prison with the biggest smirk available as his sensei glared at him. Although, something was wrong with that glare which turned into a smirk, as he poofed away from existence. "Wait, wha-"

**Secret Taijutsu Technique: One Thousand Years of Death! **_'Hah!_' Yagura thought. That's where Kakashi got it from, however Sakumo was all wrong on this one.

The two girls sweatdropped as Yagura went flying from the quite weird jutsu, but they were just glad it wasn't them. They were surprised along with Sakumo as the flying Yagura turned into water revealing it to be a bunshin.

**Secret Taijuts Technique: One Thousand Years of Death!** Yagura shouted with a manicial glint in his eyes as he repeated the attack, although this time with a staff. His victory rush disappeared as Sakumo once again disappeared.

**Secret Taijuts Technique: One Thousand Years of Death!** Yagura heard once again. _'NO! NOO!'_ He mentally screamed as he felt the pain, and once again went flying from the humiliation for the second time, although in a second life this time.

Sakumo simply smiled at his victory, he had gotten what he wanted from the kid and knew his abilities quite well now. He was slightly surprised at how easy Yagura accustomised to his techniques, especially a joke of a ability such as the One Thousand Years of Death technique. He considered asking him about having sharingan genes at some point in time.

As Yagura landed once again groaning in pain and whimpered from embarassment Sakumo turned over to Kushina who along with Mikoto gave a look of pity and amusement towards Yagura. "You're up Kushina!" eyes almost glinting evilly.

Kushina paled at that, memories of Yagura's humilating defeat flashing through her mind. She gave one last glance and charged towards Sakumo.

At the end of the day, Sakumo was satisfied with his genins. They showed exceptional skill and promise, he had given Kushina some kenjutsu lessons, and seen her obvious skill in the art.

Mikoto was an excellent taijutsu user, as well as a ninjutsu specialist as most Uchiha members, it's just a pity that she couldn't use any of them due to the weather today.

Yagura had shown great skill and promise. He managed to fool him twice within 5 seconds, not a small feat. His ninjutsu reservoir was impressive as well. His taijutsu and ninjutsu was alright, and from his stories, he was quite alright in the arts of genjutsu as well.

Yep, Sakumo nailed the jackpot with this group of genin. He expected great things from them. He especially expected them to make chunin before Jiraiya's team.

"Didn't Yagura lose a bet yesterday?" Mikoto asked happily.

"Yep. I believe you have to pay up for lunch today Yagura," Sakumo said for once not calling him shorty due to being quite hungry.

"Alright... let's get some fish or sushi then," Yagura said in a quite sad tone.

"I don't want fish today, it's cold and rainy, and you want fish? I'd rather eat ramen than fish, and I hate ramen!" Mikoto complained.

"Ramen it is." Sakumo said as Kushina cheered, Mikoto and Yagura simply sighed.

"I know this awesome ramen stand, come on!" Kushina said gesturing towards a certain road.

"Ichiraku ramen?" Yagura asked.

"What's that?" his three teammates asked at the same time. That day, a part of Yagura felt like dying.

.

The month went by quickly with the usual D-ranks and the occational training exercises. The team along with Sakumo was clearly getting bored out of their minds, and couldn't wait for the upcoming C-rank.

Kushina and Mikoto might have been less enthustiastic if they knew that most C-ranks involved killing, and the sensei had a job getting their genin used to killing on such missions. Yagura knew this, but quite frankly anything was better than D-ranks.

They had all increased in skill, even going as far as using the D-ranks as training exercises. Once Yagura used wall climbing as a exercise while painting a fence, his teammates requested guidance and since then every sort of D-rank became training.

Simply put, Sakumo made rules that the first to fall from chakra exhaustion or lack of control had to pay for lunch. Needless to say, the one with lesser chakra reserves being Mikoto had to pay up quite a lot for that month.

However, Yagura was quite content with his team. He had heard from some of the other teams that they didn't get along well. Minato's team got along to a certain point, where as groups such as the so called ino-shika-cho trio couldn't have been better off.

Then there were other teams which were simply put a catastrophy, which Yagura simply attempted to stay away from.

Yagura was just happy that his team got along well, and wasn't boring or impossible like his previous team 7. The fact that he had the role as the Sasuke of his team quite frankly worried him a bit. Kushina was like his previous self, and Mikoto was the peacemaker. Sakumo was laid back, but one hell of a good sensei.

Yep, life was good. And life was only getting better especially for team 5 who had finally completed their one month of D-ranks.

"Hokage-sama, we would like to request a new mission, preferably a C-rank." he said almost pleadingly.

Hiruzen chuckled as he ran through the mission scrolls. "Ah, here's one. It's not a hard mission, although it's a C-rank bordering a B-rank delivery to an outpost close to the border of Kumo. Are you up for it?" he asked.

Sakumo simply smiled and nodded, "we'll take it." he heard a loud cheerful cry from his redheaded teammate and found himself mentally cheering as well.

"Very well then. Off you go team 5." Hiruzen said smiling. "You have more adventures awaiting for you," he said chuckling.


	4. Reunion as Enemies

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters in the Naruto series.

Team five was quite content as they traveled through hi no kuni towards north east, the kumo border. They had traveled for two days so far, and expected at least half a day's travel more until they reached the requested outpost.

For Yagura and his two teammates, it was hard to imagine actually being at war at the moment, considering how quiet and normal everything seemed. Then again, the only memories of a war Yagura had was of Naruto's 6 hours of glory fighting a rinnegan wielder, two mangekyou sharingan users and 6 bijuus.

That sort of experience wasn't really something he expected to happen again, _ever._

Then again. He did hope for at least a bit of action during the mission, such as a hopeless bandit attempt, or maybe stumbling upon some weak missing nins or deserters which Sakumo-sensei would take down, and hopefully share the bounty with the group.

That didn't mean Yagura didn't enjoy the trip, no quite the contrary actually. He always loved travelling through hi no kuni and the peaceful atmosphere as well as the birds chirping and wild animals running around. It was that sort of mood Yagura would eagerly miss had he somehow ended up in Kiri.

Then again... Kushina could be quite a bother, even in the most peaceful of places.

"I'm thinking of something... green." Kushina said.

Mikoto sighed for the hundreth time, "...a leaf?" Kushina nodded pondering on the next object or item that Mikoto would guess. Yagura was once again amazed at the patience Mikoto was showing, so was Sakumo.

"Something... green."

"Yagura's scarf?" She asked in a almost dead tone.

"Yeah! You're good at this Miko-chan!" Kushina said with enthusiasm. Too enthustiastic in Yagura's opinion. It somehow made him think of his earlier self. _'Was I ever that annoying?' _he shook his head, better not go down that road.

"Something... blue!" Kushina blurted .

"Okay, Kushina, I'm sorry but that's enough. _Shut. Up! Please!"_ Sakumo said in a half forced, half whimpering tone. Not for the first time did the man earn Yagura's respect.

"Hmpf, but this is boring! Can't we travel faster? Perhaps do some training. Something?" Kushina offered.

"Not everyone has unholy amounts of stamina, Kushi-chan," Mikoto muttered feeling quite exhausted. Whether it be from travelling or listening to Kushina, she did not know.

Sakumo noticed the exhaustion and made a decision. "Okay, we'll rest for a while, Yagura, you'll take guard duty for the next hour. After that we'll continue, and no bothering Mikoto, okay Kushina?" Sakumo asked in an all too sweet tone, which Kushina could only nod back at.

Mikoto gave a thankful smile back at Sakumo who merely smiled in return. Yagura was already gone off with a couple mizu bunshins guarding four corners of the resting place.

"Hmm, sensei?" Kushina said getting Sakumo's attention. "This border delivery, it's not too dangerous is it? I mean, it's not like we are gonna enter a battlefield to deliver a message, right?"

Sakumo chuckled with mirth as he ruffled her hair, much to her dismay. "No, I doubt it. The border between Kumo and fire country has been quite passive so far, but you never know. There is always the possibility of fighting enemy nins, which is why this is bordering a B-rank mission, but the possibility is small. Besides, I won't let any of you get hurt. That's a promise." Sakumo said.

Yagura had a small smile at that. _'Like father, like son I suppose.'_

"That's a relief," Kushina said finally calming down. It seemed all that talking was simply to put her nerves under control. Yagura couldn't help but shake his head in disbelief, all that talking possibly avoided with one sentence from their sensei. Life was truly cruel.

Yagura didn't mind the small break either, at least it gave him a good scenery from the top of a tree branch. He didn't expect anything serious to happen, neither did Sakumo but it was crucial to stay on guard, especially in war time, even if you're on allied ground.

It was half an hour later when Yagura spotted something worthy of his attention. As he stood up on the top of the tree for a better view, he couldn't help but frown. Something wasn't right, at least considering a area with quite a lot of dense smoke several miles from their current location would usually suggest towards a battlefield, or a forest fire, none of them good in any way.

He leaped down to the ground somewhat startling his two lesser experienced teammates, "sensei. We got some problems," he said noting how his teammates flinched at that. Way to bring good news. "Around 10-20 miles from here I believe a battle is taking place, at least the smoke appearing from the area suggests so."

Sakumo's gaze hardened as he too took an oppourtunity to view the smoke. He instantly jumped down, looking more serious than ever. "We're moving out, now!" he ordered with the usual authority they came to acknowledge him with.

"Hai!" they all said in unison, although it seemed more forced on Mikoto's part whom still remained slightly tired.

"Remember, stay together as a team, you're my responsibility now, and I _won't_ accept any of you splitting up, understood?" he recieved nods from his team. He did notice the worried looks from Kushina and Mikoto, although Yagura seemed in battle mode, almost like a veteran. Fearless even._ 'Odd.'_ he thought.

The group didn't hesitate rushing towards the smoky area, which wouldn't take more than a few 20 minutes at top speed.

As they got closer and closer, they realised that a battle _had_ taken place, although it wasn't quite a battle anymore. It mostly consisted of ruins, and dead bodies of kumo nin, as well as injuried konoha nin. It seemed that the attack had partly succeeded in turning the camp into ruins. However, it seemed counting the casualties Konoha definitely came out on top with zero deaths, but quite a few wounded.

Yagura took a glance at his teammates, as he watched them breath out in relief at the outcome of not fighting this day. However, one might never know, and they wouldn't like the next news.

"Kushina, Mikoto," Yagura said frowning. "Our mission isn't over. Our destinied outpost is that way," he said gesturing towards north, which was unmistakenly from where the kumo nins had attacked from. These news caused the two girls to turn pale for a moment, but hesitantly nodded.

He didn't know if he should tell or not, but their current camp was the closest to Kumo's border, and more likely to get attacked.

"Yagura is right. However, I believe it is safe to call the mission off for the time being. We'll stay here over night and await further instructions. It is simply too dangerous moving out with Kumo nins in the area, and this place needs protection for the time being." Sakumo said.

Yagura glanced at his teammates as Sakumo-sensei walked off probably to aid the reconstruction or planning. "We got to pack out, we might stay for guard duty here for a while until backup arrives. Afterwards either help out where you can, or report to Sakumo-sensei for further instructions." the two girls nodded in return.

The camp itself wasn't a complete mess. They had lost a few buildings and tents, as well as supplies but it wasn't too fatal. Most of the konoha nin in the area even suggested towards a minor victory due to the lack of casualties.

Team 5 helped out moving the exploded boulders out of the camp. Yagura even taught Kushina the Mizu no Bunshin just for the extra physical clones helping. He would have taught her kage bunshin, but he still hadn't come across a good oppourtunity to have 'learned' it yet.

The mizu no bunshin was easily explained due to his previous origin in Kiri. However, the kage bunshin was a kinjutsu not to be taken lightly, and all he could do was remain patient and wait for a perfect oppourtunity.

The rest of the day went quite uneventful, much to team 5's relief. However, they found the trip quite exciting and amusing somehow. The two girls teased Yagura endlessly as he somehow ended up on cooking duty, not that he complained in the least.

It was a somewhat cold evening too, but the comfort they all felt as they sat infront of a bonfire made the stay in the razed camp great. Despite the lack of tents and shelter, the konoha nins remained strong in morale.

Especially when Sakumo returned from his guard duty with a guitar which rewarded him with puzzled looks from his genin team. They were pleasantly surprised as he was a quite the skilled guitarist bringing a even better atmosphere than before.

The dead kumo nins had been dealt with, and all team 5 could do was wait for further instructions. Yagura was quite certain that the mission would be put on halt, and most likely given to a more experienced team.

Sakumo was quite satisfied with the turn of events as well. C-rank missions was mostly for genin to get their first kill, and get accustomed to the lifestyle of a shinobi/kunoichi. However, this turn of events might have been for the better.

His genin had been fully prepared for a upcoming battle, which proved them to be mentally ready for the job. They didn't get their first kill yet, but they had been ready for it. The sight of already downed opponents might help them in the long run as well. Somehow he knew the first kill for Yagura would be easily done. He was more worried about Kushina and Mikoto. They were noble and pleasant people, and pacifists at heart.

He almost saw his own reflection in Yagura sometimes. He was kind, mostly calm with a fiery temper. He was also loyal, and damn efficient on the field. From the few talks he also learned Yagura was a pacifist at heart, but he knew what the life as a shinobi entailed.

He could still remember some of the quotes given from Yagura, which kept a lot of wisdom within them. He would remember them for another time.

_'Those who leave their missions are trash, that's true. However, those who abandon their comrades over a mission is worse than trash.' _That was his personal favorite. He was slightly worried and relieved that someone could relate to him so much. Not even considering he was only 8 years old, and still missed his first kill as far as he was aware of.

_'I know that some day I will have to make a choice on the battlefield, and quite frankly, that choice is already made. I will kill my enemies to keep my friends safe, even if it haunts me for the rest of my life.'_ That quote was slightly more harsh, but that quote was almost taken from Sakumo's very own life.

He glanced at the sleeping bodies of team 5 with a smile, they were his first genin team and quite frankly he enjoyed it a lot. They held more talent than anyone he had ever met before, especially Yagura. He never regretted his request to take on a genin team, even during war time.

At first it had simply been as a solution to keep company with his wife. Over time, he grew fond of the kids and their antics. The team was quite standard, the loudmouth – Kushina. The peacemaker – Mikoto. The leader type – Yagura. He was quite happy about the fact that despite these rolls in the team, they seemed to get along just fine.

With one last glance and a smirk he gave his final thoughts for the night to a perverted author of a shinobi. He would definitely win their bet regarding whose genin team makes chunin first.

.

The following days was spent in the same manner, although they had recieved fresh supplies and tents which meant the camp was as good as new. This was also one of the first attempted attacks from Kumo, although the shinobis sent was sacrifised pawns, consisting of mostly criminals with explosive tags covering their body.

It was only sheer luck that they got close enough to actually do damage. The attack was more of a sign than anything, a sign that Kumo was ready for anything Konoha might throw back at them.

That very message had also put a halt on their delivery mission resulting in a more experienced team consisting of chunin and jonin taking over. Their previous destination had finally become the proper base fighting for control at the borders, and shockingly enough, their current base was targeted as well.

Over the last 5 days at the camp things had settled peaceful, and Sakumo didn't think their presence would be required for more than 2 days left.

During that time Kushina, Mikoto and Yagura had simply been exercising and practising. They recieved pointers from the leaf nin appointed to the camp, as well as Sakumo. This mission quickly turned from a important mission to a beneficial training expedition, not that any of them minded.

Yagura had also learned that mizu bunshins practically sucked for multitasking, such as making food, repair broken traps and the sort of work a kage bunshin would do with no trouble. It did make sense though, a mizu bunshin cost less chakra, but he would have to work with what was due.

Although he would have never realised that by people watching his clones struggle, somewhat bringing amusement to the otherwise tense shinobis would give him the answear to all his struggles.

It was the usual routine, his water clones would remain mentally disturbed and struggle with the simplest of tasks, embarassing him further as every ninja in the area laughed at the display. Some of them even poofed out by _walking_ into eachother.

His eye twitched at the display of a clone sticking his hand into the hot keetle poofing away in cold water cooling the otherwise boiling water down. He was _very_ happy that he didn't regain the memories from these clones.

However, despite how funny the display was for the chunins and jonins, some of them took pity on him. Sakumo of all people too.

"Hey Yagura, I think you should stop using the mizu bunshin for now, okay?" he said grinning widely.

Yagura gave his all too familiar pout with crossed arms with a heavy glare. "Oh yeah? You got any other ideas, mister know it all?"

Sakumo mirrored the infamous Kakashi eye smile slightly scaring Yagura as he thought Sakumo to be the reincarnation of Kakashi just then. Although, that would make _no_ sense at all. Unless Kakashi stole Sakumo's body like he somehow did with Yagura?

"I got a technique which might help you out quite a lot. However, I must warn you first. It drains quite a lot of chakra, but I believe your reserves might just be able to handle it. Just don't strain yourself, okay? It's a kinjutsu for a reason. You might die overusing it. Oh yeah, the information returns when the clone poofs away." Sakumo explained as Yagura's eyes widened at the implication.

"It's called the kage bunshin no jutsu. Now follow my lead."

Yagura couldn't help but mentally cheer, and grin widely. He mirrored the crossed fingers perfectly as they both muttered **Kage bunshin no jutsu!** With the proper chakra flow.

Sakumo watched slightly in awe as Yagura seemingly learned the technique on first try. Prodigy and a genius, that's for sure he thought.

Yagura blinked at his clones who blinked back. "You there, go cook. The other one go repair traps. I'll go back to removing boulders from the camp." a chorus of 'yes boss!' was heard as the clone master had returned.

The sight of several Yaguras working out for almost 20 jonins alone was quite a funny and amazing sight. A kid looking no older than 6 or 7 due to his height carrying a quite impressive amount of weight of boulders just _had_ to bring attention.

Yagura quickly became the victim of several camera shots which would definitely be sent back to Konoha, as a reminder of the war. Usually history books would use photos from wars, and at least this was a humorous one. Yagura didn't mind, it was fun after all.

Plus, it would teach the whining kids such as Sakura and Ino in their younger days to pull themselves together earlier in life, when they saw him in the history books, _'Hah!'_ the mental image itself would make him sleep better tonight.

Or so he thought.

.

Yagura along with his two teammates woke up quite suddenly by the sound of yelling and explosions. Yagura's past experiences and knowledge made him react fast to the situation. They were under attack by a well coordinated stealth and assault squad from Kumo.

He along with his teammates lost their ground on the earth as it shattered from the explosion tags. He glanced worriedly at Kushina who screamed out in pain as her foot got stuck in the ground, he watched in slight relief as Mikoto helped her out.

"YAGURA WATCH OUT!" Kushina screamed in panic and pain. Only due to that warning Yagura managed to pull off the impossible, by simple withdrewing his staff pushing it slightly to the side on his back managing to guess the area a hail of kunai would impact at his back.

The kunais all hit his staff by sheer luck, but he wasn't one to complain. He was always a lucky person regarding gambling, and that was one of his best gambles so far. However, he wasn't able to celebrate for long as two kumo shinobis assaulted him.

He leaped away, watching as the two shinobis managed to force him away from his team, the last sight he saw was of their sensei arriving next to Kushina and Mikoto, barely catching a glance at Yagura until he along with the two trailing shinobis disappeared into the dark forest.

"Damn it!" Sakumo shouted, almost willing his body to chase after Yagura, but one last glance at his two other teammates made him stay. He had to protect them instead for now, Kushina was wounded for the time being, probably a broken foot if she was that lucky.

"Mikoto, backup Kushina and support me with long ranged attacks. We'll get through this!" Sakumo yelled in frustration. _'Be safe Yagura!'_

.

Yagura was worried, heck this wasn't what he imagined would happen within one minute of waking up. The two shinobis quickly became three which only meant more trouble for him. He had attempted to drag them off, hoping they would find some other targets. No such luck for him, they actually gained another member.

He judged by their speed and uniform they would all three be chunin at least. He gritted his teeth, if he played this right he wouldn't have to rely on Isoku for this. _"Hey Shellster! You're awake right? Right!?'_ he almost pleaded. He didn't hope that help would be needed, as that would bring too many questions.

_**'Yeah, yeah I'm here Shorty. Just focus on the battle at hand for the time being, and don't you dare die!'**_

_'I didn't plan on dying in any way.'_ Yagura thought back as he cut off the connection for the time being. He had dragged the trailing kumo shinobis far enough now for a plan to set in action. It was only his luck that it was raining too, perfect for suiton jutsu.

**Kage bunshin no jutsu. **He whispered as three clones appeared going into hiding. **Mizu bunshon no jutsu!** He instead shouted as he purposely announced three other clones ready for battle, and not a moment too late.

One of the attackers was just one second from striking, but a expertful block from one of the clones took away the danger. Yagura immediately withdrew his staff slamming it hard into the surprised kumo nin, but he couldn't relax yet.

The two other kumo shinobi arrived, and they seemed eager for blood. His blood. Yagura growled, "bring it!" he shouted as the four clones engaged the two kumo shinobi in a taijutsu spar, only to be pushed back when the third member returned. Truth be told, Yagura was impressed with his taijutsu keeping up so far.

**Suirō no Jutsu! **A voice came from the dark forest, Yagura smirked as one of the kumo shinobi's eyes widened in surprise as a water prison formed around him. Yagura formed another pair of mizu bunshins as they managed to keep the other two chunin at bay for the time being.

It was clear what the two free shinobis attempted to do, they wanted to free their trapped partner before he drowned a horrible death. Ever since he saw Zabuza perform this jutsu, it has become one of his favorite. It's a perfect support jutsu, as well as a dangerous prison. Not many people knows how to break out, and especially not Kumo shinobi. To use their raiton inside that prison would be stupid – suicidal at best.

As the four mizu clones kept the two other shinobis at bay, whom remained completely oblivious to what Yagura intended to do. He had kept his true self hidden, with a kunai in hand he sneaked up on the water prison. It was safe to say that the imprisoned shinobi wasn't paying attention to him, but rather his struggling teammates.

Without further warning the water prison dropped, and before the nin could react to his freedom the sound of a kunai slitting his throat was heard. The two Kumo shinobi watched in horror as a _little_ kid just took out one of their chunin. They were beyond furious.

"Enough of this! You're _dead_ brat!" The youngest of the kumo shinobis shouted as he formed handseals which were quite foreign to Yagura. **Raiton: Ikazuchi no Kiba! **He shouted as a lightning imitation of a wolf ripped all his clones apart.

Yagura's eyes widened slightly, that was his cue to attempt another escape and think up a plan. So far one was down, they would be foolish to fall for the same trick twice. Although he still had two shadow clones remaining hidden.

As he ran away he noticed something that made his eyes widen in surprise and a smirk appeared on his face. _'I'm a freaking genius!'_ he proudly praised himself. For there on the ground was the next trap in his summoned shadow clone's plan.

That was one of the greater abilities of the shadow clones, they would think like him and come up with strategies where as he would focus on something completely else. The whole road was filled with explosion tags.

He gave one glance back at the one trailing kumo shinobi who still remained oblivious to the mine field underneath him. Yagura gave a smirk and a wave confusing the kumo shinobi.

That was until another voice of a similar looking Yagura only 5 meters from him said one word which would forever remain the last word of his life. "**Katsu!"** the clone shouted as a huge explosion took the life of the kumo shinobi

"You'll pay for that brat!" The angry reply came from the last remaining kumo shinobi. Now that Yagura could finally get a better look at the _kid?_ He was barely 1 or 2 years older than himself! A chunin barely older than him, impossible!

"Hey! What's your name?" Yagura asked as the face did seem quite familiar.

"Tsch, I suppose I can reward you by telling you my name. It is after all the last name you'll ever hear." He said with a dark smirk. "Yotsuki A."

Yagura's eyes widened. '_No way! This can't be! Is this a joke?'_ he thought wide eyed and in complete shock.

"What's your name then gaki? I think I deserve to know yours as well." A asked.

Yagura simply blinked, "Yagura. Kenji Yagura," he said blinking furiously. Was this really happening? Did he really face the yondaime raikage in the body of a former yondaime mizukage? Ludicrous! And just what was he doing in an assault group? Were they really so arrogant as to send a kage's son for an assault attack!

Sure, they had the numbers, but still a 10 or 11 year old chunin, who so happens to be the son of a kage shouldn't be let off on such missions. They probably took konoha's forces for granted due to the large numbers sent by Kumo, Yagura mused.

A smirked, "ah, I see. So this is a kage family battle? I am surprised you're working for Konoha though, Kenji. Although I won't bring myself into your business. Let's get on with this."

Yagura could only smirk, this was almost a dream come true. Last time they met he bested A in speed, this time however things might end up different. _'Heh, life sure is interesting.'_ Yagura was slightly impressed that A would remember his surname. He supposed history of the enemy villages was important, and knowing of the former mizukages was a must.

Without further warning Yagura's eyes turned ice cold forming handseals at an impressive rate. This was a match not to be taken lightly. **Suiton: ****Lekuu no Jutsu! **He shouted as he shot several barrages of darts towards A.

Yagura wasn't surprised that A managed to dodge it with speed alone. Yagura kept on attempting to remain at a distance away, he could not risk getting in close with someone like this, yet. **Suiton: Ja no Kuchi! **Yagura shouted as a water snake leaped towards A, chasing him around. At least this would give him some ground for the time being.

Yagura once again praised his chakra reserves. He would need to play this out smart, and the win would definitely be his. If he could somehow lure him into a trap, the match would be his.

However, that was not to be as A's body was surrounded by lightning as his speed increased a lot. It was only by reflexes and experience that Yagura managed to block the blow with his staff, taking another far leap away.

_'Damnit, what to do, what to do! I still have one clone hiding, what's his plan?'_ he thought as his mind went over several tactics.

Just then another group of shinobis arrived in the clearing, Yagura cursed as he saw the kumo hitai-ate on their foreheads. However, he sighed in relief as Sakumo arrived next to him along with some other slightly wounded konoha nin along with Mikoto and Kushina. It seems they had left the campsite, things must not have been looking good.

"Yagura! How are you holding up!?" Sakumo asked, clearly wanting a quick report.

"2 chunins dead, one remaining. Although he's getting on my nerves," Yagura said showing signs of stress.

Despite the situation Sakumo couldn't help but widen his eyes for a moment at the thought of Yagura taking out 2 chunins in a 1 against 3 fight. He would have to get the details should they survive.

"Yagura, we need to flee, now! We have a few wounded who needs attention now!" Sakumo shouted as he took a combat stance next to Yagura.

"Rest of you, get the hell out of here!" Yagura shouted, "I'll take the small one, he's my target! You'll handle the others Sakumo-sensei!" Yagura shouted as he once again leapt away gaining distance. A simply followed, no way was he letting such a great fight off just like that.

"YAGURA!" Sakumo shouted in disbelief. The kid was playing a hero, and Sakumo didn't like it one bit. "Kushina! Mikoto! Get away from here with the remaining konoha nin! GO!" He shouted, for a moment Mikoto and Kushina struggled at what to do. They gave one last glance at Yagura whom managed to get a clean hit on A with his staff followed up by another barrage of darts barely dodged by A.

They gave their silent prayers as they ran away, leaving silent tears behind.

Sakumo sighed, as he withdrew his ninjato once again. "...Time to get serious." he said leaking killing intent worthy of a kage. He immediately dashed forwards, into what would be known as a massacre.

Meanwhile Yagura and A was fighting a even match. It was simply a fight of who would tire out first. A had expected Yagura to tire out a long time ago, he just had no idea how vast his chakra reserves actually was.

He was slightly surprised as Yagura simply grabbed his wrist, which was a feat in itself as he smirked. He didn't know why until he felt a presence behind him just a little too late, another clone with a staff collided with his head as he was forced away. Yagura didn't hesitate to use his advantage aiming for the staff to penetrate his very skull.

He didn't know why, but he didn't feel the shame or guilt for soon killing the previous yondaime raikage. They hadn't known eachother very well, but Yagura knew that he was a honorable man, sort of. The Naruto part would hesitate, but Yagura was furious at the idea of his friends in danger as well as the sneak attack.

And as such he leaped towards A with a determined swipe of his staff which A just barely dodged, saving his life as he watched the very ground quake from the blow.

Yagura and A both grit their teeth in frustration and anger. Yagura once again called out for more kage bunshin as five clones including himself took in position. A memorised the handseals already, he had after all used the technique twice in this battle. Although not with the use of more clones. **Suiton: Lekuu no Jutsu! **All the Yaguras called out at once as several barrages aimed at the somewhat fleeing form of A.

Yagura watched pleased as several of the darts hit straight on, but that very attack had done quite a number on his chakra reserves. He wasn't Naruto anymore, and not an Uzumaki with already vast reserves from the very get go, including slightly increased healing abilities.

Yagura hadn't been wounded yet, A however had been hit. 'A' wasn't too tired yet though, Yagura was. It seemed like this battle was still able to go to both sides.

"I must say, I admire your skill." Yagura said breathing heavily. "You're worthy of your name."

"Likewise," A replied also breathing heavily. "You're a worthy opponent. I'll remember your name when you die."

Yagura scoffed, "tsch, keep telling yourself that." he muttered. "Let's play this game by your rules then. First test, taijutsu." Yagura said calling out for 3 more clones. "Let's roll," he said as both opponents dashed towards eachother.

.

"This isn't right, is it?" Mikoto asked afraid and in a state of panic. "We can't just leave them behind, can we?"

Kushina bit her lower lip, she too was worried but Sakumo had given them a task to return the wounded konoha nins. "I don't like this either at all. I should... I should be there to fight! I haven't even done a single thing despite getting injuried from the get go 'ttebane!"

Mikoto sighed in frustration. "You got a broken foot! You can't go back!"

Kushina grunted in a very unlike lady manner courtesy of Kushina only. "My foot is alright now, see?" she said waving the foot around.

"...I'll be damned, how did that happen?" Mikoto asked in disbelief.

Kushina flinched slightly, she knew it was the kyuubi helping her but waved her off, "it's the Uzumaki blood running in my veins, 'ttebayo! It's a bloodline!"

"Incredible." One of the wounded konoha nins muttered in amazement at the healing ability. She quickly shook her head and focused on the task. "I know what you're going through right now. Believe me. We can take the trip back on our own, should you decide to leave. Don't worry," she said giving a genuien smile.

Mikoto and Kushina both gave a glance at eachother. They noticed that the other wounded nins nodded back at them. Kushina and Mikoto didn't have to be told twice, they were cowards before. But one thing was for sure, they couldn't leave behind their teammates.

"Let's go!" Kushina shouted with loud enthusiasm, Mikoto ran with her as they both withdrew their ninjato prepared for battle. Not many would notice their immediate presence due to the heavy rain and thunder anyway.

.

"Second test. Genjutsu." Yagura said not even caring about his bloody face, as well as his ragged clothes. His only comfort was that A didn't look any better. **Botsuraku Gozō no Jutsu**. Yagura whispered smirking.

A was breathing heavily, he didn't hear the name of the genjutsu but he knew something was up. He could feel the air around him diminish, that's when it hit him. The damn brat was trying to strangle him by genjutsu!

**Kai!** He called out quickly, only to realise he was in a second layered genjutsu, only that nothing was happening to him. This was due to Yagura's second part of his plan. Kaben Yōkai (Petal disguise) which kept him hidden for the time being.

Unknown to A two shadow clones had been formed in the moment he lost attention to Yagura. He remained stealthed, but could feel the chakra draining him, the clones had to work fast.

**Suirō no Jutsu! **One of the clones shouted.

The other clone threw several explosion tagged kunais at the target, he merely leaped away. This gave the stealthed Yagura his oppourtunity. He leaped with his staff in his arms slamming it into the oblivious nin whom collided straight to the ground with a loud thud. The three Yaguras followed that up by throwing several shuriken at the target. Out of the 15 thrown, 4 of them hit target in his back.

Yagura smirked as he panted from a safe distance. "How's... that... huh?" he asked smirking. A simply forced himself back up.

"You brat. You brat! You'll regret that! I'LL KILL YOU!" _'So much for respecting your opponent any longer.'_ Yagura thought finding at least some amusement in the situation.

"I'm gonna rip you apart you freaking MIDGET!" A yelled. Time seemed to freeze at that moment. _'Did he just call me... a midget?'_ he thought wide eyed. His eyes narrowed in anger as he took a firm grasp of his staff. With one surprising war cry pulling A off guard, Yagura for the first time in the fight initiated the close combat fight with his last remaining strength.

.

When Kushina and Mikoto arrived at the very same clearing from before, they met a terrifying sight. Their sensei was the last man standing, but that wasn't what terrified them. He was bathed in the blood of his enemies, and the occational lightning from the sky only added to his intemidating figure.

They both flinched as he glanced at them with the coldest eyes they had ever seen on his person. His eyes immediately softened, then widened as he remembered his third genin. He watched as a few kumo shinobis were running off in the very same distance, feeling a sudden need to get away from this 'bloody demon'.

"Damnit! We gotta get to Yagura before them, let's go!" Sakumo shouted already in movement from the moment he started ordering around.

Both Mikoto and Kushina ran with incredible speed, their adrenaline kicking in adding to the speed. They would save Yagura, that was one thing they wouldn't fail.

.

Yagura was in trouble, and he knew it. He had considered using his bijuu's chakra, but then he felt the incoming presence of his sensei and teammates whom would arrive soon. He would just need to buy a bit more of time.

A didn't seem happy. He didn't need anybody's help, yet some random kumo chunin interrupted their fight. He felt disgusted with himself, he finally met a strong and skilled opponent just for this idiot to ruin the fight?

He couldn't even stop the other nin's movement as he leaped towards Yagura who used his last remaining strength to fend off the assaulting nin.

A had to admire the kid. He was younger than himself, yet held his ground against a fresh chunin both physically and chakra wise, despite already killing two chunin. He would soon bow under from the pressure, that A was sure of, but the kid had at least earned his respect.

He watched as another group of kumo shinobi and konoha nins arrived in the clearing, some other brats looking slightly older than the Kenji kid, A mused. He was out of the match either way, he was too tired and exhausted.

He kept his focus on the struggling form of Yagura, as this last attack would decide his fate. Both of the nins holding, and forcing a kunai to their very necks. It wasn't a fair fight he realised, as the chunin was barely winded.

He glanced at Yagura's teammates who all seemed busy in their own fight, which meant no help for the brave fighter. He felt a grasp on his shoulders glancing up, it was one of the jonins who was about to take him away. It wouldn't do to lose a kage's son, and this mission was a failure. A utter failure. They had spent valuable resources for a worthless campsite which was mainly used for experience for the younger shinobis. They had lost many nins, and it wasn't worth it. Konoha even escaped with quite a high amount of their own.

However, he did get to watch the last dying moments of Yagura's fight. The sight was a grim one, which he would remember till his very death.

Yagura and the third kumo chunin whose body resembled a body builder, rather than a shinobi was finally in a lockdown. It was clear that from this point in the fight only strength counted. Yagura enhanced both his arms with chakra attempting to force his kunai straight to the neck of the kumo nin.

He was surprised though as the kumo nin smirked with a evil glint as both his arms won the struggle against Yagura. This scared Yagura more than ever in his life before. He was a ninjutsu specialist, a strategist, he was unpredictable. He wasn't physically strong enough! He had neglected his physical training and now he payed for it.

_'Damnit! Damnit! Damnit! Not like this! It can't end like this!'_ Yagura screamed in his mind as he gritted his teeth in frustration as the slightly stronger opponent forced the kunai closer to his neck. He could almost count down when the kunai would strike his neck. 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... _'Damnit! I'm sorry Minato! I didn't keep my promise!'_

What happened next left his three teammates who had just finished off their own opponent, in a state of shock. Kushina and Mikoto didn't even bother realising their first kill, watching wide eyed, shocked beyond belief at the display of blood oozing all over Yagura. They couldn't believe what had just happened. "YAGURA!" They screamed in unison, their scream drowning in the roar of the thunder.

They could only watch wide eyed and barely hear the thud of a body hitting the ground as the sound of someone struggling to gasp for breath, but it all proved futile. The body of a soon to be dead shinobi had hit the ground. With that, Yagura passed out, welcoming the bliss of darkness.


	5. War duty in Kiri

War Duty - Kiri

Disclaimer: I don't Naruto or any of the characters in the manga/anime.

___'Damnit! Damnit! Damnit! Not like this! It can't end like this!'__ Yagura screamed in his mind as he gritted his teeth in frustration as the slightly stronger opponent forced the kunai closer to his neck. He could almost count down when the kunai would strike his neck. 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... ____'Damnit! I'm sorry Minato! I didn't keep my promise!'_

_What happened next left his three teammates who had just finished off their own opponent, in a state of shock. Kushina and Mikoto didn't even bother realising their first kill, watching wide eyed, shocked beyond belief at the display of blood oozing all over Yagura. They couldn't believe what had just happened. "YAGURA!" They screamed in unison, their scream drowning in the roar of the thunder._

_They could only watch wide eyed and barely hear the thud of a body hitting the ground as the sound of someone struggling to gasp for breath, but it all proved futile. The body of a soon to be dead shinobi had hit the ground. With that, Yagura passed out, welcoming the bliss of darkness._

When Yagura finally woke up, he wasn't surprised seeing the bandages covering most of his body. He would have either died in the field, due to his teammates losing their fight, or survived with a few injuries from his own fights.

Still, he couldn't help but smile smugly. He was capable of taking out 3 chunin and tire out 'A' significantly much. If that wouldn't show his superiority to Minato, then he didn't know what did. The fact that he singlehandedly held back three chunin _at_ _once_ as well as defeat two of them was only proof of improvement.

He still didn't like the way he completed the feat. It was actually thanks to Minato, and that silent promise he didn't want to break. He had attempted to give his teammates enough time to save him, before he did something ridicilous which would only lead to more questions.

He sighed. He had used two sorts of combat techniques he wasn't supposed to be using for a long, long time. At his weakest moment, just a split second before the kumo nin had the chance to slit his throat, he had called upon Isobu's chakra, as well as used a rasengan on his opponent in one swift motion.

The kumo nin was simply too shocked that he let go of his kunai. However, Yagura had been both lucky, reckless and intrigued.

The rasengan had been a violet color, and way more destructive than intended. Instead of simply pushing the kumo nin away, it _exploded_ on his very neck. Half of his neck and face had simply disappeared in one overpowered rasengan strike.

The nin had wheezed for a few seconds before he fell to the ground dead, which Yagura did as well, although he wasn't going to the afterlife like his opponent. He was simply going to blissful sleep which he so very much deserved.

But this still brought some questions he rather didn't want to answear. Did Sakumo, Kushina or Mikoto notice him using the rasengan? Did they see the chakra of Isobu?

He supposed using the bijuu's chakra was a plausible explanation for the horrible damage caused on the kumo nin. After all, Sakumo doesn't know the power behind jinchuurikis, and the excuse is easy. 'I called upon the power of the Sanbi by accident, oops.'

Nobody would need to know, or was ready yet to know that he and Isobu were partners. He hadn't attempted to transform into any bijuu forms, which would not only be insanely dumb but risky as well, considering he was only in a eight year's old physical body.

There were rumors about losing some of your lifeforce every time you used the chakra as well, not that ninjas would care about such effects. If a shinobi survived their career and died of old age, then it was a damned good job done, not many could accomplish that feat.

Yagura obviously could explain to some degree how he saved his life from certain death, with a certain jutsu which only Sakumo could hear about. It all came down to if any of them actually noticed him or not. It all happened within 2 seconds after all.

He didn't get the chance to ponder more excuses or similar thoughts as the door pushed open. Yagura believed he looked pretty damn pathetic as he could barely move an inch in all these bandages. He didn't recall breaking any bones, but he simply believed the nurses liked to turn people into mummies.

As the door opened he was greeted by his team. He couldn't help but admire the timing they came in. Just few seconds after he woke up. Just great. "Great timing. I just woke up a few seconds ago," Yagura said eying the bandages in distaste. "Can someone help me out of these... things?"

Yagura didn't get an answear as he glanced up at his team. Kushina and Mikoto was glaring at him, while Sakumo was staring at him in amusement. He didn't quite understand the sudden mood change. They seemed so happy when they first entered...

"Baka!" Kushina yelled pointing an accusing finger at the blinking mummy. Mikoto mirrored that remark by glaring as well, with crossed arms.

"Ehh... what did I do wrong?" Yagura asked curious. "As far as I recall I kicked ass. I took down three chunin in fact. I survived a one on three battle even when they were all older, as well as higher ranked than me." Sakumo laughed at that remark while the two girls still glared. "How long have I been out?"

"A week." was the quick triple reply.

Yagura's eyes widened at that. No wonder he didn't need these bandages, he was all healed up already! He shrugged nonchalantly, to his best efforts having almost every muscle restricted from movement. These bandages was some tough stuff. "In that case, can someone help me out? I would like to get back to Minato and boast about my awesome abilities."

"You're a little bit too late for that." Sakumo said grinning. "I've already boasted enough. Not many can brag about having a genin fight four chunin, and even end up winning. Damn, I'm a good sensei." Yagura chose to ignore that as he focused on the still glaring girls on his team.

"Is something wrong?" he asked as they rolled their eyes. "I don't understand."

"You acted too reckless! You can't just go off yelling 'run off!' and then immediately go into battle. We're a team, and we do things together!" Mikoto said in a scolding tone.

"...Sorry, I didn't quite think about it. I was in this certain mood when fighting that kid, Yotsuki A was his name. He was the raikage's son he told me. Pretty cool huh?" he said grinning. "I felt like a legendary battle was taking place. I didn't think clearly."

Sakumo chuckled as he sat down in a chair. He knew just what he was talking about, he had his own fair share of awesome battles. Although Yagura meant legendary battle in a complete different and actual logical sense.

"By the way. We were wondering about something..." Kushina muttered. "We didn't quite notice what happened, but perhaps you can enlighten us? You see... you were almost dead, I actually thought you were gonna die." she said clenching her fists. "And then something crazy happens, some lightning blinds us, and the next thing happens is that your opponent's head was blasted off. I mean what the hell?"

Yagura's eyes widened slightly at that. He wasn't sure if Kushina exaggerated just a little bit, or if he actually hit him that bad.

"What did you do to him?" was the question they all asked in unison.

"I uhh..." he blinked, "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Mikoto asked suspicious sharingan spinning. Yagura instantly gulped at the perfect lie detector in full display.

"Are you sure of that, Yagura?" she asked in a very sweet tone.

Yagura sighed, here goes the awesome Yagura misslead, but don't lie persona. "I have no idea how I literally blew off his head, I swear." and truth be told. He didn't know how he blew his head off, as far as he was concerned it was only half the head.

"He's speaking the truth," Mikoto said frowning.

Yagura glanced at Sakumo. At least this would stop this little interrogation and end it at that. "Do you think it was the... you know. The belly beast," Sakumo's eyes widened slightly as he took the not so subtle hint, as he sat in a thinking pose.

"I believe it could be. I mean, it's plausible. Who knows..." he muttered.

"Ehh, what are you two talking about?" Mikoto asked.

"Secrets," Yagura stated with a smirk. "Secrets which are highly classified, so stop prying already."

Mikoto and Kushina's eyes narrowed in an instant. "I think we speak for both of us when we don't like feeling left out." they spoke creepily in the same tone and at the same time. They paused for at least five seconds before continuing, "Are we clear?" Okay, it was official. Those two creeped the hell out of Yagura and Sakumo.

"Ehh... bring it up with hokage-sama," Yagura replied sweatdropping giving a pleading look at Sakumo. He still had trouble getting out of these bandages, and being surrounded by creepy girls talking in unison as if they were one being was... creepy.

"Oh come on! Just tell us Yagura!" Kushina all but pleaded as she along with Mikoto looked pleadingly at Sakumo and Yagura.

"...Sakumo knows the secret. I'm just the messenger." Yagura said smirking. Sakumo raised a eyebrow, as if saying '_really?'_

"Well, it seems you're getting better Yagura. Please do write a letter, or visit once you're let out of the hospital. Until then I suppose it's only fair that you spend time with your teammates. They have been _very_ worried about you. Ja ne!" Sakumo said smiling.

"...So what's this secret anyway, you can tell us now that he's gone!" Kushina said eyes glinting evilly.

"You're doing this in a wrong approach Kushi-chan. It won't do to beat him up." Mikoto berated her. Yagura simply raised a eyebrow at that. Since when did they play nice? "I have a better idea you see Kushi-chan." she said searching through a closet.

"...MY STAFF!" Yagura all but cried out loud.

Kushina grinned, "so... you get your staff for this secret smash heads technique of yours, deal?"

"...NO!" Yagura cried out loud. "It's a S-rank freaking secret! Hokage-sama is gonna get my head if I told you!"

"...Really?" Mikoto said in disbelief sighing. "Oh well, you know how to get your staff. Come on Kushi-chan."

"MY STAFF! MY HEIRLOOM! MY PRECIOUS!" The two evil teammates simply ignored him to their best ability, which seemed to be easier said than done. Yagura could yell very loud when angry.

Hell hath no fury like Yagura scorn.

.

During Yagura's stay in the hospital, he recieved a few hints as to what was going on with the war. Apparantly the campsite they had been defending was completely annihilated. However, it seems like Konoha came out on top even in that exchange death wise.

Yagura still didn't quite get Kumo's mind about that assault mission. They acted too reckless, which he pretty much ended up using to his own advantage, earning two free kills on two higher ranked shinobis than himself.

This feat alone made Sakumo request a chunin promotion for Yagura, although Hiruzen quickly declined, refused and shooed Sakumo off instantly.

When Yagura heard of this he wasn't sure what to think. He was skilled enough to be a chunin, that was for certain. The hokage didn't want him to become a chunin, because every chunin will eventually get sent to the frontlines.

He didn't really care too much for that. He simply wanted to beat it into Minato's face that he would get a chunin rank first, no matter what it would take.

Other than those small details regarding Yagura's shinobi career. The war has been pushing into more brawls, battles and sabotage missions all over the world map. The world was in the full definition of a war, and team 5 was just unlucky enough to end up in the middle of it as it begun.

Kumo seemed to push towards hi no kuni, which didn't come as a surprise to Yagura. So far Konoha seemed to be stable, not many useless deaths occured. That didn't mean Konoha was passive, far from it. It was a well known fact that Konoha was considered the strongest of the five hidden villages.

While Sand was pushing towards Iwa keeping them busy, Konoha was holding off on their own against Kiri and Kumo on two different borders which Konoha did surprisingly well.

Hiruzen didn't even believe that genins was needed for this war, but it was still too early to tell. Yagura knew that the war took 7 years the first time around. It would most likely end up around that length this time as well.

He would be 15 when the war ended. And he would damn well be a jonin when the war was over, this he promised to himself. He would then go for the hokage seat as well, he was simply just made for the job he reasoned. That, and the shocked faces of Minato, Mikoto and Kushina would be worth all the paperwork.

When Yagura was finally outside of the hospital it didn't take him long to retrieve his staff. Mikoto could be very unoriginal when it came to hiding places. Who of all people would hide such a majestic item such as his staff under their bed?

The most difficult part was simply to break in. The Uchihas wasn't happy about non-Uchihas walking around their compound it seemed.

Either way, it seemed like the two teammates had calmed down somewhat. They had even gone as far as to ask the hokage whom admitted Yagura was right. It was actually a S-rank secret, and that they shouldn't pry. That had ended the case, although they weren't happy about it.

For a whole week Yagura recieved the cold shoulder during an exciting week of D-ranks. It was first when he asked how it was his fault for not being able to tell, which they had to agree with. They started talking with him again since then.

Yagura didn't understand girls when he was 16 as Naruto, and it didn't seem like Yagura had any more luck so far. Even the ancient three tailed turtle in his stomach who was always eager to pick up knowledge remained confused.

However, training quickly resumed for team 5, and for that Yagura was grateful.

"By the way, I never asked. What happened once I passed out after uhh... blasting that chunin's head off?" Yagura asked.

"Well, the fight was pretty much over. We all finished off our opponent at the same time, and the remaining kumo shinobi regrouped back at the razed campsite, we retreated from that point with Sakumo carrying you." Mikoto explained.

"Oh... well, thanks." Yagura said sheepishly. He wasn't one that usually thanked people, but he supposed saving his life was... sort of nice.

"You're welcome. Either way, we're back in Konoha for D and C-ranks for kami knows how long. It seems Hiruzen won't allow any of you to take on the chunin rank until you reach the age of 10, unless the war takes a drastic change." Sakumo said frowning somewhat. "I won't be your sensei forever either. I will be sent to Iwa's borders soon."

Yagura raised a eyebrow at that. He remembered Sakumo's reputation from the village of the sand, he was seemingly the same for Suna as the yellow flash was to Iwa. If he ended up on Iwa's frontline... well, that's one more historical change.

"This also means you'll swap senseis once in a while, and even train on your own at times. I would suggest sticking together as a group, you all make a good team after all." the three students nodded at that. "Now... let's get some training going on! I can't have lazy students hanging around giving me a bad reputation!"

Yagura merely smiled. He would do his absolute best to advance in skill. He could somewhat reason with Hiruzen's ideals about sending young shinobis to war, especially jinchuurikis.

But then again... he would just have more time to prepare, and prepare he would definitely do. That was his promise for the next 16 months.

.

Timeskip – 16 months, the day of Yagura's promotion.

Over the many months not too much happened. Yagura remained the shortest of the academy bunch, but he was considered the strongest. Minato was a close second, or at least to the blonde's opinion, Yagura was second.

Yagura had been training with team 5 many times, as well as accepting various missions. They never really went on crazy missions such as their first C-rank. He supposed it was the curse of the first C-rank mission always turning A-rank.

Appearance wise a bit changed, at least for the females of the team. Yagura kept on hinting towards a late growth spurt for himself, while everyone else seemed to grow more and more. Yagura would grumble, but since he couldn't brag about being tall, he would at least boast about having the good looks.

Not many could disagree with that. Although he was still subject to some teasing regarding his height, which would usually make him retaliate in anger, and most likely beat said person to a pulp.

He had earned a fair share of ryos over the years completing various missions. Team 5 remained a team, although it seemed times were slightly beginning to change.

The first change was Mikoto, being the oldest of the team, she recieved her chunin rank on her birthday. She was sent off towards Suna two weeks later.

Kushina followed up a month later, she was sent towards Kumo.

Then finally came Yagura three months later. He was ready to make a name for himself, and truly believed in his abilities. He had used shadow clones to a incredible level, during his training sessions. His chakra control as well as nin and genjutsu arsenal became better and larger. His style became more refined, and he learned to take advantage of his height in close ranged combat.

All in all, Yagura was the perfect example of a chunin ready shinobi. Nothing could turn his mood down, nothing. Or maybe he spoke too fast once again.

"You're going to Kiri." Hiruzen said simply.

"...Excuse me?" Yagura asked surprised. "Kiri? That's... the stupidiest idea I've heard of in my life. Really."

Hiruzen sighed with a glare, "don't question my authority Yagura. I know it was your previous home. I'm not sending you there because I _want_ to. We need reinforcements down there, fast, and the fact that you're a great suiton user will be beneficial."

"Because the area is surrounded by water? I'll be of better use that way." Yagura stated simply. "If I end up captured... which is quite possible."

"Every shinobi runs that risk." Hiruzen retorted.

"...True I suppose." he said frowning. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

Hiruzen cracked a smile as he threw the chunin vest at Yagura. "Wear the vest with pride and all that. Just don't throw it out in the trash can first thing when you walk out." he said chuckling.

Yagura cracked a smile in return. "Don't worry. This vest will definitely be a nice wall decoration. When do I leave for Kiri, hokage-sama?"

"10 days from now, at the north gate at 8 in the morning. You'll be going with Danzo's group this time." Hiruzen explained.

Yagura frowned at the name Danzo. Not much was known about him, other than he was well renowned as a shinobi until he became crippled. These days he's a strategist for Konoha, although he's very shady. He became rokudaime hokage for like... 5 days in Naruto's timeline, which you obviously don't become by doing nothing.

Danzo was a shady person, which Yagura didn't like at all. Then again, there was some irony in this. Danzo had from Tsunade's stories requested full control of Naruto's previous self, which Danzo somewhat got now.

Yagura as a jinchuuriki with quite good control was now under Danzo's command. He hadn't done a full transformation yet, and didn't plan on doing for a while. But he was quite certain it would be possible, although it would be interesting to see. His friendship with Isobu was unquestionable, he had even opened up the seal in his mindscape giving full space and movement to the turtle.

He had memories from Naruto's jinchuuriki powers with Kurama, which was different than his current own. They were different in a big sense. Where as he as Naruto got a bijuu cloak enhancing his speed, as well as chakra reserves Isobu was different.

He was something akin to what Killer Bee was. He could draw upon the tails at will without actually using a bijuu cloak, three in total which he believed was totally badass. Of course 8 beats 3, but he would go down in history as the first perfect jinchuuriki. He still had to tell his teammates about it, but he suspected they would realise when this war was over. As would many others.

Hiruzen and Jiraiya obviously knew of his development, seeing as it was Jiraiya practising with him. They were obviously pleased with the results.

"Alrighty then." Yagura said bowing. "I'll see you some other time hokage-sama, and that is a promise!" he said flashing a grin.

"Oh, and do greet Minato from me," Hiruzen said chuckling as the door shut close.

"Minato is in Kiri?" Yagura muttered. "I'll definitely not let that blondaime show me up..." he grumbled as he walked back home to prepare his supplies, as well as weapons and tools for the trip.

.

Yagura was beyond pleased as the group travelled towards east to the wet islands of Kiri. Usually people would expect someone to berate him for being a kid – for being too short. Not these days, he had gained a reputation amongst the leaf nins, almost putting Kushina's title red hotted bloody habanero to shame. It was an unspoken rule, don't call Yagura short, or even refer to him as a kid.

Other than that, people learned that he was a nice fellow. He could pack a punch, and his suiton jutsus was very useful. All in all, he definitely had capable jonin skill as a chunin rank.

During the trip Yagura had kept an eye on Danzo, who in return kept an eye on Yagura. Hiruzen had told Danzo of Yagura's 'secret tenant' due to him being the general of their forces in Kiri. Danzo wasn't usually the man Yagura would willingly trust that information to, but he didn't quite have a choice.

He didn't know whether this Danzo was different from the future or not. He supposed that Danzo wouldn't just throw him away on a suicide mission for no reason. Jinchuuriki meant power, and more power was better for the village. That was simple Danzo math.

Danzo had even requested a conversation with Yagura concerning his abilities. Suffice to say, Danzo was actually smiling at the idea of having a almost perfect jinchuuriki under his wing. Yagura fought back a frown at the man's facial expression at those news.

Then again, Yagura didn't quite understand Danzo's obsession with jinchuuriki. As far as he was aware of, he was the first in this time's history so far to even gain the tiniest bit of control. Everyone else was either suppressing their demon, such as Kushina. Or running mad, as the shikaku containers in Suna.

Danzo had requested a spar with Yagura, which he gracefully accepted, and even more gracefully beat the old cripple almost too easily. Apparantly bijuu tails was quite resistant to fuuton jutsus, which happened to be most of Danzo's arsenal.

Danzo admitted, Yagura was truly a perfect weapon – earning a not so suppressed frown from Yagura. But whatever pleased the man, Yagura thought absentmindedly.

Becoming a perfect jinchuuriki was only this easy for him for special reasons. He had some knowledge from Naruto's memories, as well as ending up with one of the more friendlier bijuus quickly becoming his partner. He actually supposed Isobu's company was more pleasant than Kurama's.

Apparantly being free outside for the turtle is just as boring as inside the seal. Most of his hide outs would be by sea, which to Isobu was horrible boring. At least he could adjust the scenery to his liking in the seal, and enjoy Yagura's fights. They had a easy going friendship, and it would stay that way for a long time Yagura promised himself.

His training didn't only consist of suiton, taijutsu as well as getting accustomised to using the bijuu's chakra. To be fair, the bijuu chakra training was by far the easiest, as there was no more resistance from his partner.

He had recently gotten a new element, and one of the more dangerous ones combined with his current element. He had gotten lightning, which would definitely make a dangerous combo.

He was still getting accustomed using the lightning element, but he made fast progress. Well, considering the masses of shadow clones he made for a simple training session.

As the group of about 200 shinobis walked through mizu no kuni Yagura couldn't help but suppress a small smile. The whole area was perfect. The amount of water all over the place would prove useful, and he supposed he had his previous knowledge of Kiri to thank for, as the mist didn't seem half as annoying to him as it did to others.

The group travelled for 3 days in total, and finally sighed in relief when they arrived at the main base. The base itself impressed Yagura, it was more like a fort than the usual campsites with tents.

This seemed more like a minor town, most likely an abandoned town which Konoha simply had taken over. It was perfect luck too, the base was in a perfect position and the walls surrounding the village would prove great for defense.

As Danzo finally dismissed them Yagura quickly walked around exploring. It seemed like the camp had 3 eating sessions per day. A few personal rooms, although they seemed to get quite crowded as the war went on. There was also a hospital ward, and speak of hospital wards...

"Why are you always bandaged like a mummy whenever I see you?" Yagura asked with obvious amusement.

"Yagura!? You're here?" Minato asked, then shaking his head. "It's great to see you, really. You being here probably means reinforcements arrived?" another quick nod and a sigh of relief, "thank kami for that!"

Yagura took this time to get some information, leaning towards the wall another round of questioning rounds between the two friends and rivals was shared. Such as how things was going in Konoha in Minato's case. Or simply how the war was going around here, and some tips or information as to how Kiri would usually fight.

At the end of their little chat Yagura realised Kiri hadn't changed in the least. They still relied on stealth and ambushes. Too bad for them, two could play that game Zabuza style in the mist and lots of water prisons.

The next few days was spent pretty much doing nothing. Danzo was still strategising, putting units to whatever good use he could imagine.

Yagura didn't quite understand these leaf nins though, they all refused to wear proper clothing sticking to their usual attire, even despite this land was constantly raining, as well as the heavy mist. Yagura had often encouraged people to at least wear some camo clothing, for their safety's sake too, as it kept them hidden easier, but it was refused. Their loss Yagura reasoned.

At least he thought so, until his allies mistakenly saw him as a Kiri nin for a moment. It seemed like proper equipment wasn't always the safest way to go at it in war.

As time went on, he finally got a request from Danzo to report at his main tent. Yagura didn't hesitate in the least, he was getting restless already.

"Alright, everyone's present. Let's start the meeting." Danzo said moving towards a map of Kiri. Yagura took that moment to notice the others in the room. It seemed like around 200 chunin and jonins had assembled, and hopefully they would get sent out.

"I've spent the few days here to read your reports, and see your additional skill. I have put you out to where I believe your skills will do good use. Around this tent, you'll find several papers with your names on some of them. When you find your name, you'll see which base I've decided to set you off to. You'll leave first thing in the morning for your new area. Any questions?" Danzo asked, none came. "Alright then, get to it!"

Yagura sighed as he waited for the others to stop looking. The place was crowded, that much was for sure. The fact that everyone was taller and blocked his view was annoying too. He somewhat toyed with the idea of using one of Isobu's tails just for the extra height. The sight would be a hilarious one, that's for sure.

As time passed by, more people left the tent. In the end he found himself at point 4, which was a base 50 miles to the north which he didn't mind too much.

He was a bit put off that he hadn't been placed with any of his friends. He knew for a fact that Inoichi, Minato, Hizashi and Shikaku was around the borders of Kiri, but all of them in different base points.

He quickly found the few other people whom were going to the same point as him, it wouldn't be wise travelling alone. They agreed to meet up and travel as a group of 8, just as a safe precaution.

The travel itself went quite uneventful, thankfully. Still, the place that point 4 was located at was a quite special area. Somehow he couldn't help but think that Danzo actually was quite smart.

Yagura had often been talked about as a smart strategist, and a shinobi using his head to develop plans in mind. He was also quite sneaky, plus his jutsus was perfect for entrapping enemies. He was known to outwit every opponent, and this sort of area was perfect.

It was a big swamp, although somehow trees survived living here, and was quite frankly everywhere. It was the perfect environment for Kiri ninjas to fight. An easy place to sneak up on your unknowing opponent and slit their throat and disappear as quietly into the mist as you came.

That was the way Kiri ninjas worked, and as many people knows, water is the best friend for a Kiri nin, as well as the mist.

However, it was also a perfect place to develop vaious battle plans in the heat of battle. There were various easy spots to hide and plot various tactics, such as using kage bunshin to place various traps. The place was perfect.

In his first 7 years of living here in mist did give him somewhat of a resistance to the wet place, and he could easily tolerate the mist. Other people around the point wasn't as easily adjusted to the area and complained quite a lot.

Yagura reasoned that he had put to this base for several reasons. One, since this place would never work out as a full out open battle, it was more of a sneak and assasinate war. He was a sensory ninja, with a quite high developed skill level. He was perfect for defending the point, as well as do some damage.

However, it was also one of the most dangerous ways of doing battle. He would sneak into enemy territories, and pray that he didn't mess up. The camp was just that, a camp. A few tents was over the area, with a deep green camo color camouflaging the area.

It was a weird way of doing war, but they had to defend the point anyway. Any safe entry into hi no kuni wouldn't do well at all, and Yagura being placed here was obviously for smart reasons. He wasn't bothered by the weather or clima in the least like most would be, quite the opposite actually. It was almost a nostalgic sight.

He was perfect for the job to say the least.

.

He had been at the point for a week's time, and he could honestly say he understood the meaning of living amongst assasins. The whole place seemed dangerous, as if any corner would hide a Kiri nin. It was stressful to say the least. The mist did little good as you could barely see 5 meters ahead of you. They depended on their senses to say the least, and that was saying something as their enemies was most likely seasoned in the art of silent killing.

However, to his relief most people assigned this point was sensory ninjas, or at least had some abilities to locate and sense their enemies. So far Yagura had killed three assasins, and to his relief realised how much his sensory ability had improved over the years.

He had just recieved his first mission too. The missions given at this place was different from many others. He imagined that his friends was having epic battles, while he had an assasination mission for one of the more troublesome Kiri nins who was spotted repeatedly at a whore house. Oh joy.

The fact that he was taken for the job, as he could easily disguise himself as a younger child. It was humiliating and annoying, but Yagura couldn't quite disagree with the leader's points. So he ended up in ragged civilian clothing, as well as dirtying his face on purpose. He would have to look younger than he possibly was, and his face was a key point to this.

He was wished good luck, and was left on his own. These missions was solo missions and done by your own skill alone. If you were captured there was no hope of ever returning. That was the cold truth, and Yagura realised that.

He imagined how reluctant Danzo actually was of putting him here. It was true Yagura's skills worked perfect for these sort of jobs, however losing his newly gained jinchuuriki at a whore house would prove stupid, and serve for some funny war stories in the future.

But still, he had to look away from the jinchuuriki part and put him where his abilities was at best use, even though it was possibly the most dangerous base of them all. Truth be told, Yagura was good all around, but this place was where most people lacked the abilities to stand strong.

Either way, Yagura managed to sneak through the misty forest quite succesful. He was wary of every movement as he moved forward. His target would visit a village 20 miles inside Kiri's borders.

It didn't take him long to get out of the misty area, and locate the village. So far no problems, but this was the dangerous part. He didn't know much of his target, other than he was a man in his thirties who was leading some divisions in this area.

He looked like the average kiri nin going by the name Hideki. Sharp shark like teeth, brown spiky hair and 5'10 in height. He was easily located by the way he wore his hitai-ate. It was hanging loosely around his head, sideways somewhat like Zabuza.

He hid away his kunai in his sleeve, as he made sure his smoke bombs remained hidden. Once his kill was secured, panic would definitely catch attention. He would flee with the smoke as distraction and panicking people would serve perfect anyway.

He took on the role of a poor homeless child looking for food as he limped through the streets. Not many people took notice of him, which was good. They didn't even give him a look of pity, it seemed like Kiri hadn't changed in the least.

As he limped through the village he found a poster of the house he was trying to locate. The problem was solved as a group of loud and brash men walked through the street without a care in the world.

"Bingo," Yagura muttered with a smirk as he located the man he was looking for. He followed the group at a safe distance, and wasn't too surprised when they all entered the house at once.

From there Yagura simply walked into the alleyway behind the house. He knocked on the backdoor waiting for someone to open. Which a woman in a blue dress did, the moment she saw him she glared.

"Get out of here you pest! Shoo! Get away! I'm busy!" she shouted.

"B-but I'm hungry... pl-please." he pleaded, however she simply made a move to slam the door. He smirked and just the moment before the door was shut he dashed with inside with impressive speed. Just before the woman could utter her surprise he knocked her out quietly with a hit to her neck.

He moved the woman behind a few crates which would keep her hidden for some time. He made sure to memorise the woman's voice and attire as he henged into the very lady.

"Hey Kamiko-chan, what was that?" another woman asked.

"Oh, it was nothing. Just a passing street rat," she said showing a frown in distaste. "Don't worry I threw him out on the street again." The other woman smirked but simply shrugged.

"You know, Kami-chan. You have work to do. Room 5, some guy named Hideki I think it was." the woman said.

Mentally Yagura was cheering. This was an even better oppourtunity than he ever imagined. Hideki was the name of his target. Not for the first and hopefully not last time did he praise his luck.

"Alright, I'll get down to it." she said doing a mock salute. She was left alone as she moved upstairs. She could hear noises coming from the rooms and simply sighed, this was an humiliating act but it was his job after all.

He found the room number 5 and simply knocked on the door. A ruff voice was what greeted 'her'. The sight of the many scars on Hideki's body almost made him want to vomit, but he played along in the act.

He moved into the room with swaying hips, making sure to mask his chakra reserves to that of a civilian, and so far it didn't seem like Hideki seemed to take notice. His kunai was hidden in his sleeve, ready for a clean strike whenever.

"Hey beautiful," Hideki said with a predatory gaze. 'She' merely forced a smile in return moving forwards. Hideki wasn't subtle in the least and simply grabbed 'her'. Yagura found himself lying on his back to the bed with his arms behind Hideki's head. This was humiliating, but oh so easy.

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle." Hideki said smirking.

Yagura couldn't help it. He giggled oh so innocently, "oh? Don't worry, I won't be."

"Mmm feisty, I like that." He replied.

"You have no idea," was Yagura's last words as the kunai in his hand rammed into the man's neck. Hideki watched wide eyed, he knew he was a dead man.

However, by his glare, and the fact that he was surprisingly still alive despite struggling to stay awake surprised Yagura. He didn't seem to be one giving up.

Yagura noticed what was going on, and could only mutter a "Shit..." as explosion tags seemed about to explode around the man. He simply threw the soon to be dead body of Hideki to the side rushing for the door. The moment he opened the door he was blown out of the room by the explosion.

The room was on fire, and the damage to him hurt. As more people ran outside screaming and yelling he noticed something crucial. There was 5 nins, and they were all looking at him with murderous gazes. He realised just then, his henge had fallen.

Without further warning he threw the smoke bombs, with a scream of **Tajuu kage bunshin no jutsu!** As 20 clones formed running around in every possible way.

Yagura leaped through the window along with 4 of his other clones. He rushed through the village finding himself gaining distance, although some of the persistent nins was still trailing him, and from his dismay and horror more people showed up.

Before he knew of it, he and his remaining 4 clones was the only ones remaining. With one quick glance over his shoulder he noticed three of the nins was hot on his trail, and from his horror some of them seemed to be jonin skilled at least.

"Shit!" Yagura cursed as the nins trailing him kept on gaining in on the distance. Yagura chose that moment to throw the last two smoke bombs, along with three kunais with exploding tags. The plan was simple, he had to make the other ninjas slowed down, and who wouldn't slow down with the danger of getting blown up in a area you can't see?

As the diversion seemed to work, he continued his rush out of the village. He was slightly relieved when he reached the forest, it was safer here despite still being in enemy territory. The amount of hiding spots, as well as ambush possibilites would help him greatly.

And just by taking one last look behind him, he was relieved at the possibilties. He won't get away without a fight, he knew that. The two trailing jonin kiri nins didn't seem amused at all, they looked murderous.

Yagura created two shadow clones to split up, and hopefully aid from outside the fight. Hopefully they would place some neat traps or something else.

When that was done he simply stopped his movement, as three seconds later the two jonin arrived just infront of him. Yagura didn't hesitate to attack, he couldn't waste any time jab talking lest more nins arrived.

Yagura needed to finish this quickly, that also meant he would have to go full out. With his leap he attempted to slam his staff into the shinobi's abdomen, but was blocked like any shinobi would expect. He took a sidestep to the right, swinging the staff wildly as a fierce attempt to just hit once more, as it was blocked he smirked.

Nobody would expect a sudden spiked tail to stick out from your enemy's behind with no warning whatsoever. And especially not a hard as iron shelled tail with spikes at least two and a half meters in length. The nin wasn't able to avoid the surprising hit, which slammed into him with fierce force impaling him on the spikes.

If Killer Bee watched this, he would have been proud. Although, Yagura was probably his senior these days considering Bee wasn't even a jinchuuriki yet. Still, he took pleasure in combating like this, and he could feel and knew so did Isobu.

It was ingenius too, since he didn't use his bijuu cloak form, nobody would sense the bijuu's chakra since it wasn't flaring wildly around. The bijuu cloak was only used in the extreme situations, which he just had a gut feeling would come eventually during this war.

The kiri kunoichi watched this all happen in seconds. She was scared, but her honor wouldn't let her flee a lucky kid just like that. Instead she leaped towards Yagura whom simply engaged the fight with his staff blocking every strike. The kunoichi was surprised at how resilient the staff was, any normal wood would have been cut to pieces, or at least recieved marks. Yagura's staff didn't recieve a single marked cut.

She not only had trouble avoiding his staff, the tail was wild and fierce swinging all over the place. She found herself on the defense, as Yagura not only attacked with the bijuu tail but used it to maneuver around as well.

She attempted one of her more difficult jutsus doing incredible fast handseals, 44 within 2 seconds which would hopefully keep the monstrous kid infront of her to slow down, and hopefully get an oppourtunity to flee. **Suiryūdan no Jutsu! **She shouted as a powerful and fierce dragon shot towards Yagura.

She took that moment to run in the opposite direction watching in relief as Yagura was pushed back, and before she knew it the distance was too great. And that was her mistake, she became too relaxed and carefree.

A second later she felt her ribs crack as a staff impaled her chest. "W-what?" she muttered in horror and shock. Infront of her stood two Yaguras with the coldest eyes she had ever seen on a child before. She didn't know more as one of them immediately impaled a kunai straight to her forehead killing her immediately.

Yagura recieved the information from his two shadow clones as he picked up the pace for his home base. He felt adrenaline kicking in, as he could feel his legs become wobbly out of the drain and excitement.

He hadn't felt like that in a battle for 16 months, and the feeling was all too great and addictive. He was pleased with his work too, not only did he complete his assigned mission. He managed to kill two jonins in the escape too – that makes three jonin in all.

He subtly stealthed through the mist as he came closer and closer to his camp. As he arrived at the camp he collapsed to his knees weakly despite not feeling tired at all, but his legs was wobbly as he finally stopped moving. He watched as some of the konoha nins came over to him, he couldn't help but smirk as his body was still shaking from the excitement and adrenaline coming from the mission.

He said one thing which made the other assasin shinobis smirk. "That was... awesome!" he muttered. He then went on to tell them of his assasination, to the explosion and escape and the kills. Needless to say, they were quite surprised at Yagura's skill.

They also somewhat questioned Sakumo's teachings if a 10 year old boy could take on the role, and act perfectly as a henged whore.

The irony wasn't lost upon Yagura when they mentioned that. It was after all Jiraiya that gave him such teachings, and he felt somewhat a tinge of pity for the quite noble man known as Sakumo who would take the burden of Jiraiya's not so noble teachings.

"Great job Yagura. I honestly expected you to be away for at least a few more days. Completing your assasination within 2 hours is nothing but impressive, including killing two jonins? Very impressive indeed." Hitsoka, his leader at the moment said. He recieved nods of agreement and awe amongst the others.

"Heh, thanks." he said sheepishly. "I don't want to be a bother. But can someone help me to my tent? I can barely move my legs, they feel like gelly, and won't move at all. I got to get my emotions under control, can't have this happening every time," he said chuckling.

Hitsoka smiled, "ahh, adrenaline kick, eh? Come on along then." he said as he supported the younger shinobi. Hitsoka was definitely looking forward to see more of Yagura's abilities.

.

The following three weeks was quiet as usual. Yagura had calmed down from the mission, but found his stay here to be exciting. He didn't believe assasination missions could get yourself so pumped up. He could definitely understand why Kakashi had been in ANBU for 10 years straight. It was an addictive feeling if nothing else.

And just for that reason he realised there were several rules. You could only take a mission every week unless certain missions specificially required your skill or person, as Yagura also noticed the other people were getting anxious for more missions. He had so far in his life mainly been doing escorts, which was boring. This – this was exciting and interesting.

He had so far done 2 more assasinations, but they weren't as exciting as the first one, nor as challenging. It was simply killing off some bandit leaders in the area whom were messing with civilians. It wasn't an important job, but it was at least something to do.

Other than that, the place had been quiet. A few Kiri nins had been roaming about, but was quickly dealt with. Unfortunately Konoha also lost some casualties, from amateur mistakes Yagura thought.

It was first a month later when he recieved his monthly mail. They would only recieve mail from home once each month, and even that was stretching it.

Two of them was from Mikoto and Kushina who had returned home from duty. They had written about their experiences, Yagura couldn't help but feel they got off lucky compared to the level of _his_ missions. At least they were safe and happy, that's all that mattered.

The second one was quite a eye opener, and something that made him jump to action asap. It was from the shinobi corps, regarding Minato.

_Minato's letter._

Kenji Yagura.

It is the Shinobi Corps' painful duty to inform you that your friend Namikaze Minato, as of three weeks (21 January) ago went MIA.

You are ordered to return immediately to the main base of the Kiri borders and report to Shimura Danzo for further instructions regarding the topic.

Our sympathy is with you in these grave times.

Humbly yours – Shinobi Corps, Shimura Danzo.

.

That was all it took for Yagura to move in action instantly. He couldn't have his rival for becoming hokage go down just like this. He would make sure of it.


	6. Stealth Squad

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in the Naruto anime/manga.

Rescue Squad.

It was a rainy and depressive day when Yagura finally arrived at the main base. He had travelled for a day with the escort of three jonins. The trip had been quiet and uneventful, and for that he was thankful.

During the trip his thoughts repeatedly went towards Minato. He had been gone for more than three weeks, and most likely kept in capture and suffered in interrogation. However, he still had hope. Danzo wouldn't have him return to the base, just for a simple MIA case.

It seemed whatever had happened to Minato was a problem to Danzo. Possibly some important people in Minato's group had gone missing as well. For a moment he actually hoped that was the case, just to shake his head in disbelief. It was a cruel thing to wish upon others just for a little bit of hope.

Another thing he was happy about was his growing reputation. Already in Konoha he was some sort of celebrity, and his few succeses in Kiri so far was well spoken of. That was all good, yes. But that wasn't what people knew him as.

People knew Yagura as a ambitious shinobi, whom people put great hope in for the future of Konoha. Some people even talked about him taking on the hokage hat some day, lest he dies in the war. People knew this of course, but what made him truly famous was his temper. And as he slammed the door open to Danzo's office, that persona of the angry Yagura was in full display.

"Danzo-sama." Yagura said impatiently, quickly and straight to the point. "Reporting for duty." His voice was calm, professional, although Danzo could literally sense the killing intent rolling off Yagura. It wasn't really pointed towards Danzo, but rather everywhere with no real direction.

Danzo took that moment to look upon his subordinant in admiration. A 10 year old shinobi had to be skilled to pull off such killing intent. After a few seconds of waiting, he decided to speak before the small shinobi spoke up again.

"Greetings Yagura-san. I believe you served well at base 4, yes?" Danzo asked, Yagura merely glared.

"Get to the point Danzo. You sent me a letter requesting my immediate return. You wouldn't have done that for just a simple nin missing in action. There is something else going on, now spit it out. What is the situation and my orders?" Yagura hissed back.

"Calm down gaki, it's not healthy leaking off that amount of killing intent without a break once in a while." An awfully familiar voice spoke out from behind him.

His eyes widened in recognition. "Jiraiya."

"In the flesh." Jiraiya replied grinning, as his face grew serious in an instant. "I heard about Minato's situation 2 weeks ago and made my way over here. Take a seat gaki and I'll tell what's been going on, I would offer you a much needed drink as well, but sensei would probably look down on me for doing that."

Yagura didn't hesitate as he sat down with crossed arms and a facial expression of utter seriousness, slightly startling the two adult shinobis. Yagura didn't even look like a kid in that position, despite his small height.

"Right... let's get down to it." Jiraiya said sipping some sake. "26 days ago, base 6 requested reinforcements as several kiri nins kept on pushing through. Several of our ninjas was sent off to defend the base, this includes Minato. However, due to a slip of information, or a spy from the inside, Kiri recieved word of these reinforcements." He said pausing as to let the information reach Yagura.

Danzo took on the story telling from there. "We had sent an amount of 150 shinobis as reinforcements. They never reached the base, and little is known except they were ambushed. Half of them died, and the last remaining are kept imprisoned and most likely will die soon." Danzo said growing irritated the way the war was going.

"However, Kiri has kept them alive, much to my relief and dismay. I'm relieved because there's still hope, and 70-80 shinobis imprisoned is a big risk to take. They are definitely trying to get much wanted information of our weaknesses and strengths. It just shows how resilient our shinobis are for not breaking down yet." Jiraiya said.

"They are being kept imprisoned in one of their main bases, 65 miles from here. It is very well defended, and a direct assault is too risky, and a stupid approach." Danzo said as Jiraiya nodded. "This job requires stealth."

Yagura sat there taking in the information for a while. It all seemed too unreal. They were going to sneak into a base, which seems more like a fortress and sneak out 80 shinobis? That was the stupidiest idea he had ever heard.

"That's stupid." Yagura said bluntly recieving two somewhat amused glances. "You can't just expect a few spies to sneak in and release 80 shinobis and leave just like that. That's just... I don't know what to say. Hopeful, stupid and a waste of effort." He said.

"Now, now gaki. You're right that it would be impossible to free 80 shinobis kept imprisoned deep inside their base. However, who said that this was a rescue and flee mission?" Jiraiya said.

Yagura finally caught on. "You plan on making an attack from the inside out? So it's basically a suicide mission?" he said through gritted teeth.

"Far from it gaki. It's a dangerous mission yes, but it's not considered a suicide mission. I have recieved permission to gather an infiltration squad and free the imprisoned shinobis from the inside out. We will at that moment have around 85 shinobis inside the base, ready to cause havoc." Jiraiya explained.

"And we will send our forces from the outside once the signal is given by Jiraiya. They will be too busy keeping the shinobis from the inside busy, and that will be our cue to victory." Danzo said, smirking in anticipation.

"...That's all good and stuff. But why did you personally request my presence for this meeting and job?" Yagura asked.

"Simple gaki. I'll be clear with you. I wouldn't have requested you at first, but you impressed me. I read your reports, you're basically a upcoming king of infiltration. Your assasinations are perfect, and with barely any flaw..." he said as he bit his lip in worry for the next choice of words.

"And quite frankly... you're quite hard to notice, I mean... you're small, quite fragile looking and barely make any voice when moving around, and your chakra control is perfect, to the point that you can easily hide your chakra presence completely." he said already feeling the dark intent from the mention of 'small'. He quickly continued, "and most importantly of all, you're a sensory ninja."

Yagura calmed down and had to agree with Jiraiya's reasons. "So you're having me in your infiltration unit?" a quick nod made Yagura ask the next much expected question. "Who else is coming along?"

Jiraiya smirked, "only the best of the best of konoha's nins in Kiri I could find. Hyuuga Amy, Aburame Akio and Yamanaka Fumio."

Yagura found himself nodding at the logical choices. A Hyuuga was probably the best infiltrators in the world, due to their bloodline. An Aburame is perfect for the job as well, as nobody would realise a bug passing by as a potential spy. The Yamanaka would prove useful, should they need to use mind control, or steal information regarding the prisoners from their mind.

"Basically my only job is to keep a lookout for potential patrols and enemy nin with my sensory ability?" Yagura asked, slightly dismayed. "That's lame."

"Well, that's how life is sometimes gaki. Still, it would look good on your shinobi profile completing an S-rank mission at the age of 10. So you're in?" Jiraiya asked.

"Do you even have to ask?" Yagura said sighing. "When are we leaving for the team briefing?"

Jiraiya and Danzo smirked widely at his response. "Two hours from now, inside this tent. Don't be late."

.

Despite the critical situation, Yagura couldn't help but mentally laugh at the possibility of meeting this Hyuuga of them all. He hadn't socialised much with any of them, but meeting the very woman who had managed to sneak up on him and commented on his prank on Hiashi was slightly amusing. She seemed kind enough, almost like Hinata, although she definitely had more confidence.

Then there was the Aburame. Yagura didn't know what to expect from him, he was as stoic and logical as any Aburame ever was. They were beneficial for missions, but quite dull.

The Yamanaka was a odd one though. He seemed rather bored and relaxed. If it wasn't for the blond hair, Yagura might have mistaken him for a Nara.

And finally there was Jiraiya. And well, Jiraiya was Jiraiya which Yagura didn't know whether to find reassuring or the definition of failure.

Yep, this team would work out just fine.

Danzo had gotten most of the equipment sorted. The team recieved some dark cloaks, resembling that of an ANBU, including a blank black mask also resembling an ANBU. They recieved a microphone each placed next to their mouth, which would be used solely for communicating between the 5 of them.

Their deadline was two days, and if they didn't send the signal before then, the attack would not happen and they would be left on their own, while the hidden leaf army would retreat. No pressure.

The team consisted of Hyuuga Amy, Aburame Akio, Yamanaka Fumio, Kenji Yagura and finally Jiraiya as the squad leader.

The team briefing started off splendidly straight off the bat.

"Who's the kid?" Was the first intelligent remark by the Yamanaka.

"The name's Kenji Yagura. And call me kid one more time, and you won't live to tell the tale." Yagura hissed back, leaking impressive killing intent. Yagura was satisfied with the reaction given, as the group definitely learned to respect and acknowledge that he didn't seem weak or useless.

"...For this team to work out, I'll make some ground rules as of now." Jiraiya said completely serious. "_Do not_ call Yagura small, a kid or a brat. You'll only learn to regret it." he said in an awe inspiring serious voice. Yagura could only nod at that with a smirk.

The group didn't know what to respond to that and chose to stay silent. It didn't last long before Jiraiya continued. "I'm sure you all understand the dangers of our upcoming mission, and the whole plan relies on our results, right?" he recieved several nods in return. "The only reason we have a chance of succes is because it is considered an impossible mission, which is ironic in itself." he muttered at the end.

"However, we have an inside spy in their base. He's reliable, don't worry. He's one of my own after all." he reassured them. "We recieved a map consisting of several weak spots, as well as the patrol timers. We should aim at the western wall, just before midnight 30 hours from now. For now, we'll prepare while our hidden army will move out tomorrow."

"Sir. I'm not berating Yagura or anything, but why is a chunin and such a young one at that even considered for this mission. No offense Yagura." Amy said.

"None taken." Yagura quickly responded. "But for your question, I'm a sensor type, and I'm quite good at it." he recieved a few awed looks at that. Sensor ninjas was rare, and especially young natural ones like Yagura.

"That's right. And don't worry about Yagura here, he might be a chunin but he's definitely jonin skilled. One month ago he took on three jonins alone within 5 minutes." Jiraiya said grinning at their looks of surprise.

Yagura shifted in his seat slightly uncomfortable by the praise and attention. He chose that moment to get to the point, "well, we could sit here and talk forever or save some prisoners slowly dying in a prison. I don't know about you, but I'd rather get going now."

"Right... let's get to it!" Jiraiya said as they all took off.

.

Infiltration and spying has always been a speciality for Konoha shinobis. The reason to that is simply their various shinobi clans. The clans consisting of Hyuuga, Uchiha, Aburame, Yamanaka all had their own kekkei genkai which would prove beneficial for such missions.

While the Hyuuga's kekkei genkai proved more useful for infiltration, they couldn't match the sharingan's benefit of stealing knowledge. During a mission it is easy to miss several important details, with the use of the sharingan the user will make sure to relay all the information in clear detail later on.

It was truly a shame that the Hyuuga and Uchihas had a rivalry, Konoha would certainly be unbeatable in the infiltration department if they worked together.

Still, Yagura learned to respect the use of the byakugan along with a sensor. They were practically able to dodge any incoming ninjas and patrols. The same could be said about the army which would soon be sent forward.

Nobody would ever think of an army stealthing through your very home territory. Still, the kekkei genkais of Konoha proved useful for such actions. And quite frankly, Yagura thought it was one of the coolest missions he had ever taken.

So far the team had been staying low, 5 miles from their destination waiting for the right time to move in. Yagura did his best to hide his amusement as his partners repeatedly glanced at him. They didn't voice it, but they were surprised. They wasn't sure that a 10 year old could stay cool with such a mission, but Yagura proved them wrong. He would even go as far as to claim he was the most calm of the group.

"We're moving out. Amy, use your byakugan, Yagura stay focused and alert at all times." Jiraiya ordered as the group silently moved forward. It didn't take long, nor was it hard to reach the base in the middle of the night.

They could see several houses with light, and patroling shinobis. To their relief, it seemed the information given from the map proved right. They didn't have to wait long for the first patrol to move silently by, giving a free passage for the 5 hidden nin.

Jiraiya was the first approaching the wall, locking down the few well hidden seals used for alerting about intruders. He gave the sign to move forward as they slowly wallclimbed. As they arrived at the top of the wall, they decended quickly back on ground, hiding behind the house marked with a cross on the map.

According to the plan on the map, they would have to wait here for about 5 minutes until their spy would approach them with a key bundle should they need to unlock locked doors. And true to the plan, the spy arrived right on mark. No words was exchanged as they switched items. A konoha leaf hitai-ate for the key bundle and a curt nod as the spy left the house pocketing the leaf hitai-ate getting ready for battle.

Jiraiya gave handsigns as the next part of the plan. This was where things was gonna get tricky for Yagura and Amy. A lot of the plan relied on them at this point. Yagura muttered a quiet 'kage bunshin' as 10 clones appeared.

He gave a nod at the group as they silently moved forwards, leaving behind one of the shadow clones. Amy would keep check on where the kiri nins were, and every time they reached a certain distance, a shadow clone of Yagura would hide around the base.

They did this for 10 minutes straight until all shadow clones was at place. They had so far been moving freely around the base unseen. They knew this was actually the easy part, as the infiltrating the very prison cells would be the hardest.

The reason for the various clones to be placed around the base was for security reasons. Yagura's shadow clones all shared the same microphone as the real Yagura, and thus could warn about sudden movements with a shared sensor radius of 300 meters enough to cover the whole place.

A byakugan could only do so much, and more safety would prove useful.

They had so far managed to take hiding behind a shelf, just beside a window opened by their inside spy.

"Patrol 4 o'clock, will pass the window within 3 minutes. Wait 4 minutes until further movement," Amy said.

"_Patrol at left gate moving towards your position, arrival in 5 to 6 minutes."_ One of the shadow cloned Yaguras said as the group took in the information gravely.

"We got a loophole for about 1 to 2 minutes if we are lucky. Stay ready." Jiraiya ordered.

4 minutes passed as the patrol had finally passed by. "Incoming patrol, estimated arrival 70 seconds," Yagura whispered worriedly.

"Wait 20 seconds and then we break in. Amy, you take the lead once again." Jiraiya ordered. As the group patroling inside finally moved to a satisfying distance Amy jumped for the window silently, followed by her team.

Yagura breathed out in relief as the other patrol just passed by outside. He didn't have time to calm down though, as the team was in movement once again. This was after all the hard part.

"The prison cells are in the cellars. The stairs aren't too far away. 6 shinobis are standing guard outside the door." Amy whispered with her byakugan activated. The group moved silently forward. The next part would prove risky.

That proved slightly incorrect as one of his shadow clones poofed out of existence, bringing grave information. Yagura and his 9 clones tensed as the news hit him.

"Guys." Yagura whispered, no reaction. "Guys." He tried again, still no reaction. His eyes twitched in irritation, "_guys_." he half hissed/whispered. Still no reaction. He sighed as Jiraiya kept on rambling, about their plan.

"Naked women 6 o'clock." He whispered, with an instant reaction from Jiraiya.

"Hi guys, glad I got your attention. We got some trouble, you see." He said pale faced. "According to one of my shadow clones, the Kiri nins are moving to arms. Our army was spotted." He said as Jiraiya cursed. "...I sense several nins moving around, the patrols are dispersing."

"Yagura is right. All the patrols, except for few guards are running for the fort's walls. I would advise moving fast while they are distracted." Amy said.

Jiraiya sighed, he didn't know what Danzo would do with this situation. He could either retreat, and perhaps lose anyway due to being in enemy territory. He could also choose to stay and fight, although that was a loss anyway. Although Jiraiya was certain Danzo would choose to stand his ground, and get the best out of the situation.

"Let's go then." Jiraiya said seriously as Amy led them away. It didn't take them long to reach some stairs leading down. The Yamanaka and Aburame took action at this point. Few bugs was sent down for a few seconds, returning with needed information.

The Yamanaka was meanwhile secretly reading the minds of some of the guards. "They seem alert, and worried." He spoke up.

"Probably due to the attack. Their mind is elsewhere, do we have the knock out gas ready?" Jiraiya asked, getting four nods in return. "Fire and load then..."

.

Danzo was not happy. It was a risky mission, but he was sure that they could sneak through. It had worked perfectly too, as they were all in position.

They were positioned 3 miles from the main gate, armed to the teeth with shuriken, kunai, explosive tags and various other weapons. Everything was prepared, and ready for action. Jiraiya's team had gotten inside, and everything went smoothly.

That was at least until the sound of several barks was heard. The few Inuzukas in the army paled as they heard the voice. Danzo immediately knew what was going on. They hadn't been spotted by eyes, but by scent. It was just their bad luck that a patroling Kiri group with ninken passed by at such a time.

5 minutes later hell broke loose as the fort along with Kiri nins around the area was warned by their presence. A few seconds later after the alert, the Kiri patrol was dead but the damage was done.

Danzo had to make a decision. Flee and perhaps lose half the army without gaining anything in return, or charge the base most likely sacrifising their lives, but do immense damage as they still had the element of surprise on their side.

For a loyal Konoha lover like Danzo, the answear was simple. "ATTACK!"

.

Yagura watched with awe as the few gas bottles silently rolled towards their targets. The guards barely had time to react as the smoke knocked them out instantly. He watched as Jiraiya and the Yamanaka moved to action instantly cutting their throats, securing 6 kills.

Yagura and Amy moved forwards not hesitating in the least, planting 2 slightly bigger than usual explosive tags on the locked iron door, taking cover. 5 seconds later a heavy bang was heard. Their intended plan was to move attention towards them, as this was the very signal given to Danzo. The bang was loud and could be heard by the Inuzukas from Danzo's position.

Somewhere outside on a battlefield between Kiri and Leaf, Danzo recieved information about the bang as he smirked slightly in hope of victory.

.

As the stealth squad moved into the prison cells, they watched in horror how thin and beaten up some of the prisoners were. They froze for a second until they moved in action. They kept on knocking open the doors, cutting them free from the restraints.

It didn't take long for Yagura to find his intended target, whom looked just as beaten up and thin as everyone else. It didn't take a genius to realise that they hadn't eaten much, if anything at all.

"ANBU." Minato all but whispered in relief.

"...Damn, Minato you look like shit." Yagura said slightly amused despite the situation.

"Y-Yagura?" Minato muttered in surprise. "Damn, I haven't ever been... this glad seeing you... midget."

Yagura considered leaving the blonde right here and now for that remark. Instead he chose the second option – physical pain by slamming his staff straight at his abdomen.

"Ompfh!" Minato groaned as he settled for a glare. "What the hell was that for you lunatic!" He managed to roar despite his weakness.

Yagura merely glared back at Minato as he withdrew a kunai taking slow steps towards Minato with a murderous gaze, clearly seen by the purple almost shining eyes from the eyeholes in the mask.

Minato's eyes widened at that, Yagura wouldn't seriously hurt him, would he? "Y-Yagura! Calm down! I didn't mean it, I'm sor- oh..." he muttered as Yagura cut the ropes restraining him. "Thanks." he said blushing in embarassment, especially when he noticed Yagura's amused face.

"I'm glad I recorded that." Yagura said offhandedly.

"YOU WHAT!?"

"Minato! Shut up and aid the other prisoners, we're in a battle right now and need all our forces, NOW!" A all too familiar voice shouted to Minato.

"J-Jiraiya-sensei?" he muttered in surprise as Yagura pushed him outside, handing him a kunai as they both continued to free the prisoners.

5 minutes later, the cellars was filled with all the freed prisoners, all armed to the teeth with a... kunai each. They had recieved a food pill, which should keep them up for the next half hour.

"Jiraiya-san, we should probably get going. I'm sure Danzo-san requires our help." Amy said, with a volume clearly stating that she was growing restless.

"I know, but are the prisoners ready for battle. They look pretty weak to me." Jiraiya said frowning upon the skinny forms of the prisoners. Although, to his surprise they were the ones looking battle ready the most.

"Oh, don't you worry about us Jiraiya-san." One of the prisoners said, an Inuzuka from his marks and his feral growl. "I'm all ready for beating up some kiri nin, payback is a bitch." He said, and to Yagura's surprise even Minato looked murderous.

This would be an interesting mission, and somehow he just knew his life was about to change, for the worse or better. He did not know... and he couldn't be more right.

.

The remaining forces inside the Kiri base was shocked by the explosion coming from the cellars. They had already sent quite a huge amount of their forces towards the incoming enemies. They felt a chill down their spine at the possibilities of a prison break.

80 imprisoned shinobis free on the loose again would be more than a simple nuisance. It might spell doom and death for them. They couldn't let that happen, and besides, everyone knew how weakened the prisoners were. They had after all barely gotten anything to eat and drink, which was part of the torture.

Quite a few of the remaining guards sneaked inside the main base with caution. The place was simply too quiet, especially considering the earlier explosion.

As they arrived at the stairs, and got a look at the cell door they paled. Right outside the door was 6 corpses, and inside was what could be compared to a minor army. They instantly paled and readied themselves for combat as the konoha prisoners noticed them.

"War time really makes the most interesting missions..." Yagura muttered with anticipation as the heavy stare down was going on.

Minato grinned ferally cracking his knuckles. "You bet."

It didn't matter who made the first move, or initiated the battle. All that Yagura noticed was that suddenly the cellar became quite tight, to the point where using jutsus would surely cause friendly fire.

There was only one word able to describe the battle – chaos. Everywhere he looked, people was getting slaughtered by swords, kunais, shuriken and all that sort of stuff. He was sure if people began using jutsus, the whole place would crumble and bury them alive.

He knew right then and there that some people at least had to split up. Such a battle wasn't useful for the Konoha style of combat. They were known for their teamwork, and to fight in such a tight spot would prove suicidal at best.

He noticed as other people got the same idea, as more and more people fought their way upstairs. Yagura didn't hesitate, as he swinged his staff feriously around with no real coordination. He had never gotten so many clean hits before, by seemingly just swinging the staff around in circles.

If it wasn't for the serious situation, he might actually have found it somewhat amusing. And it really was, if not for the random kunai/shuriken throws as well as swinging ninjatos mere centimeters from beheading him.

He was relieved to get out of the dark cellar and up to a proper level, where ninjutsu was usable without the fear of knocking your comrades out. He could still hear the cries from downstairs, as the battle went on.

To his surprise, Minato was standing right beside him. He had seemingly followed him, moving along the same thoughts. Yagura didn't have a long time to think about that, as his danger senses went alert. He didn't waste time as he pushed Minato away along with him.

And he couldn't have done it at a better timing. A second later where he stood, a pool of lava melted the very floor. Both Minato and Yagura glared at the woman performing the jutsu. She seemed to be in her early thirties, and judging by her glare she was just as angry as they were.

"YOU!" A brown haired kunoichi beside the lava user screamed pointing her finger at Yagura. She seemed angry beyond anything Yagura had ever seen. She had green eyes, along with shoulder length brown hair. She had an average height, but that was all to it. Yagura honestly didn't know who she was.

Yagura was slightly taken back by the pure hatred in her voice, and actually found himself replying. "...me?"

"Yes you!" She shouted back at him. Yagura didn't know what to think about this. He was basically hiding every part of his body, face, legs, arms, everything. So what was she getting at. "That staff!" 'Oh.'

"What about it?" He asked cockily.

"That's not Konoha's property, you thief!" At this point in time she had already taken forth her ninjato, and prepared for battle.

"Now, list-" Yagura started but was quickly cut off.

"I bet you're part of the reason Yagura-kun disappeared from the Kiri village, am I right!?"

_'Yagura-kun? What the hell?'_ "...Well, sort of yeah. I suppose I'm a _big_ part of Yagura leaving the village." He replied clearly amused by his missleading words, so was Minato judging by his amused snort. That was the last drop for the kunoichi whom charged forwards. Yagura could only think one thing as he blocked her strikes. _'Fast'_

Minato was just as surprised by the kunoichi's speed, but even more by Yagura's own speed and reflexes. He could tell he had improved a lot lately, just by that display. It made him excited and envious, he had to improve more.

He didn't have time to help out his friend and rival though, as the lava user charged towards him. He immediately blocked her ninjato strike, with his own kunai. And just like that, another fateful battle commenced.

.

Yagura didn't know what to make out of the situation. The woman seemed genuienly pissed off at him for carrying _his_ staff around. He didn't even get an answear as to why she was so damn possessed of the staff. He had never met her after all, and she called him in third person by the suffix _-kun._

Yagura couldn't figure it out, and didn't feel like he had the time for it. His opponent would never give him a breathing moment or pause, which meant no talking between them. Yagura was completely fine with that as he prepared for an old fashioned one on one battle.

"You don't even know the secret abilities of that staff!" The kunoichi shouted as she prepared for one of her jutsus. **Suiton: Suiryūben! **She shouted with an evil glint in her eyes. She probably thought the win was hers by that single move Yagura mused.

Yagura couldn't help but smirk under his mask by her mention of the staff's abilities. She was about to get surprised in that case.

**Water Release: Water Mirror Technique! **Yagura shouted as he smoothly oscillated the staff in circles. The Kiri kunoichi watched in mild surprise by the skill displayed by her opponent, and wondered how he knew the staff's abilities. She gritted her teeth as another water dragon formed from the mirror, evening out her own attack.

That was one of the strongest Kiri genjutsus, and it was all because of that staff. All because of a lowly konoha nin who had stolen that staff! Just thinking about how he might have obtained it pissed her royally off.

She hadn't been very happy the last 3 years. First, both her parents died when she was at the age of 5, meaning that she was taken to an orphanage.

Next event that happened almost made her retaliate towards the sandaime mizukage. The sanbi jinchuuriki had died, and as tradition goes, the vessel has to be related to a kage family and preferably at a young age. Which could only mean her younger brother Yagura.

And to spite her further, they demanded her not to communicate or seek out Yagura, as he _needed_ proper training and learning. He didn't need close relations such as friends or family, he was a sacrifise and would be trained like one from the age of 10 when his body could resist the bijuu's chakra.

They purposely kept people from socialising with him, without Yagura even knowing why. They made sure he was eager to seek knowledge and become stronger. She was sure Yagura didn't even realise how lonely he was.

The loss of her family within just one year broke her mentally for a long time. Still, she seeked comfort in watching Yagura's growth from a distance, feeling immense hatred for the mizukage as Yagura wouldn't stay happy forever turning into a tool at his 10th birthday.

She usually found humor in how much he resembled their father, despite being rather short. She herself resembled their mother. If people took a good look at the two, they would never be taken as siblings.

Then 6 years later after the sealing he disappeared from the village with no trace whatsoever. And here comes this low konoha nin with the very staff which _her_ younger brother inherited. She didn't want to think of what had happened to Yagura. All that she focused on was the staff, which most likely had been taken from spoils of war.

With one last angry glare at the masked konoha nin she charged towards her little brother's murderer with a fierce war cry. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Yagura kept his cool as he blocked the strikes from the sword, slightly intrigued at how the kunoichi had such control over two elements. Her ninjato was covered in raiton chakra, which required certain control. That and her display of a A-rank suiton jutsu just seconds ago surprised him.

Yagura felt that the tempo of the taijutsu/kenjutsu fight was getting uncomfortable. He had trained viciously for the last few months, but this kunoichi was faster than him. It was only due to his flexibility and reflexes that he kept the fight going.

He attempted to leap backwards to gain distance, but the kiri kunoichi sticked to him like glue annoying him greatly. He still had many aces up his sleeve, and many ways to gain distance to perform handseals and jutsus.

His bijuu friend was always available, as well as the wonderful shadow clones. He decided to keep his major ace up for certain circumstances, plus it was probably not too smart revealing him as the long lost sanbi jinchuuriki right here and now in Kiri.

**Kage bunshin no jutsu!** He called out without handseals, shocking the kiri kunoichi somewhat. She gritted her teeth as she was forced to take steps backwards by the shadow clones. Her strategy relied on kenjutsu, and her opponent not to use any jutsus.

She wasn't a long range fighter, and for that she found herself to be in a bad position as three Yaguras stood in the back forming handseals at a impressive speed.

******Suiton: Ja no Kuchi!** One of them called out, as a water snake hit her straight on, she was relieved that she managed to kawarimi in time. Especially when she witnessed the next attack.

******Suiton: Lekuu no Jutsu! **The last two Yaguras shouted spitting out icy darts, which would have definitely hurt, if not straight killed her just from that barrage of darts. She glared back at the Yaguras, but felt a presence behind her just before she was slammed by a certain staff sending her straight to the ground.

She grunted in pain as she immediately went into a combat stance, slicing the clones one by one. She was glad by her quick reaction, if she hadn't done that she was surely dead. And she refused to die before killing this brat.

She realised the fighting style of her opponent. His fighting style relied on distracting the enemy, actually using a seemingly proper attack, just to set the trap. How she hated this kid already, she could practically feel the smug smirk behind that mask.

They both took that small break to observe the battle going on. Yagura was relieved to see Minato still going, and seemingly taking the lead in his battle against the lava user. Although, he was saddened by the amount of corpses lying all over the place.

Yagura glanced back at the kiri swordswoman whom seemed in deep thought. She probably thought of strategies, Yagura mused. He got an evil glint in his eye at the prospect of a slightly funny strategy he had in mind.

If the Kiri kunoichi was surprised that Yagura seemed to throw away his advantage by running straight for her, she didn't show it. However, she became slightly confused, and quite awed at the chakra control of her opponent.

He ran with impressive speed towards the kiri kunoichi as he repeatedly used **B****unshin no jutsu** to the point that it looked like afterimages closing in on her from every distance. She would usually be able to tell a bunshin from a normal person, however Yagura created new ones cosntantly, too quick for her to detect, as she grew slightly worried.

She leaped backwards as Yagura trailed after her, repeatedly making bunshins all around him which faded away after just 2 seconds in use. It was a jutsu with low chakra cost, which meant it didn't really hurt him. And the additional shocked look from the kunoichi quite frankly amused him to no end.

He noticed how the kunoichi leaped infront of Minato and the lava user, as she repeatedly tried to gain distance. Yagura could almost swear he heard a faint snicker from Minato as Yagura chased her along with the bunshins.

It finally seemed as if Yagura had cornered the kunoichi, but to his surprise she just sneered and formed a hand seal he knew all too well. **Mizu bunshin no jutsu! **She shouted as 5 clones appeared. Suddenly Naruto was the one backing off avoiding clones.

Yagura didn't know whether to laugh or feel annoyed. The faces of Minato and the lava user was priceless as they interfered their match again. Although this time it was Yagura on the run against his similar strategy. It was amusing, yes, but he was still playing a dangerous game of avoid the swinging swords.

**Mizu no bunshin no jutsu!** Yagura called out as 7 clones appeared. It quickly became a clone massacre, as the two ninjas battled it out. In the end Yagura came out on top as he managed to strike the kunoichi hard with his staff, sending her to collide into the wall.

For a moment Yagura felt depressed at the lack of a book, he silently wondered how pissed he could get this kunoichi. It would definitely work with icha icha, pulling off a Kakashi. As he heard a feral growl coming from the almost shattered wall he reconsidered that thought, combined by the most crazy killing intent he had ever felt.

Yagura was quite sure the kunoichi was literally crying in anger. She was sobbing, but it was definitely not from pain, rather it was pure anger. Yagura knew this was a big advantage for him, but he couldn't help but feel a slight bit of pity, or interest as to why she was like this.

Yagura's eyes widened once again as her whole body literally lit up in lightning as she smirked evilly. He felt an incoming attack from behind him which he noted happened to be a clone, which he barely avoided. He was slightly confused as to why someone would use a defensive technique such as **Suiton: ****Hahonryū **which only job is to make a wave of water extinguish fire.

So in that case he didn't really care to get slightly wet as it did no damage. Until his brain actually got on to her plan. Using her incoming raiton jutsu while he was all wet would prove disastrous. "Crap." he muttered as he watched the jutsu.

If her grin could get more evil, Yagura was sure he would have fainted right here and now. He was scared shitless though, her technique resembled the raikage's **Lightning Release Armour** an awful lot. As he watched her movement increase he yelped, and just barely managed to kawarimi with a broken boulder.

He watched in mild horror as the boulder was practically turned into dust. She immediately noticed him again as she started her chase. Yagura made no hesitant movements as he attempted to keep her at a distance with his staff.

It worked for around 10 seconds until she managed to slam the staff out of his hold. She smirked evilly as she finally connected with him, as the lightning surged through him. His scream must have caught a lot of attention, as barely a second later Minato slammed a surprising kick at the kunoichi getting her away from Yagura.

The help didn't last long as the lava user resumed the battle from before, but not before Minato gave a worried look at Yagura who twitched at the ground.

_**'Yagura. You have to use my power.'**_Yagura's only reply was a mental groan. He managed to get a glimpse of a figure slowly walking towards him with his staff in hand.

"How inconvenient that you'll die by the very weapon you stole from Kiri, scum." The kunoichi said with a growl.

Yagura forced himself to at least lean on a knee, "at least tell me your name. I want to know the name of my last opponent." he said trying to get some time.

"The name's Hikari. Ken-"

"Alrighty then Hikari. Nice meeting you, I'll take that staff back, alright?" Yagura said with a feral growl as the eyes behind his mask turned a deep red with a red cloak forming around him. He really loved the element of surprise from his jinchuuriki abilities. It always caught them off guard.

"Wha-" Hikari started but was brutely slammed against a wall due to one of Yagura's tails appearing. She lost the hold of the staff which Yagura quickly snatched. He noticed the lava user fight close by to him and wasted no time in running with impressive speed towards her, slamming the staff straight to her side slamming her into Hikari.

Minato was shocked at Yagura's appearance. He had never seen something like it before. A red cloak around him and a surprisingly long spiked tail swinging behind him. He had so many questions he wanted answears for, but they would have to wait.

The whole place seemed about to fall down. Anyone caught in the crumbling cellar would most likely die, especially the konoha nins whom would recieve no outside help.

"We need to get out of here!" Yagura yelled as his cloak and tail once again disappeared.

"You don't have to say that twice!" Minato yelled as the two sprinted outside.

A few meters away at the two fallen kiri kunoichis, they were both having certain thoughts of their own. Hikari did her best to fight falling unconscious. She had so many questions swirling in her mind just then. She tried to yell for the kid to come back, but she was too weak.

_'That tail, that cloak... Yagura that was you...'_ she sobbed at that thought. _'What did Konoha do to you? Did they brainwash you?'_ she managed to clench her fists in anger at that. _'I'll bring you back home. This I swear, nii-san.'_ with that she fell unconscious.

The other kiri nin had thoughts of her own. She noticed Hikari faint, and realised there was really not much to do. She had broken her legs and couldn't move. The whole place was falling to pieces, and there was nobody to save them. She glanced at Hikari with determination as the first boulders seemed to fall.

She knew that only one could make sure the other survived, and since Hikari was unconscious she realised this was her last moments. She immediately sacrifised herself blocking the boulders from falling upon Hikari. Her last thoughts went to her daughter at home who would soon go to war with Kiri as an orphan.

_'I'm sorry my daughter. Grow strong, Terumi Mei.'_

.

Yagura and Minato barely escaped the cellars as the place fell to pieces. They did their best to ignore the screams coming from the cellar, which was quickly silenced later on. If any of them survived, they would eventually be digged up.

They couldn't fret over the loss though, the whole place was in panic. Konoha nins and Kiri nins alike was fighting all over the place. The kiri main base was in flames as well as corpses of both sides all over the place.

They both watched with relief that Jiraiya was still alive, and fighting. It didn't take long for Danzo to give the retreat signal. More kiri nins would obviously turn up and eliminate them should they stay too long.

The konoha forces immediately retreated with a feeling of victory, and sorrow for the death. No kiri nins dared or bothered giving chase as they clearly outnumbered them, even with the few remaining numbers. This was once again a victory for Konoha, and Yagura's first completed S-rank mission.

Somehow Yagura just had the feeling that this mission would bring bad and good news for the future...

As they had travelled half the distance with around 36 shinobis alive, over 80 percent of them dead, Minato finally found time to ask the one question nagging him. "Hey Yagura, what was that red cloak technique and tail?" Minato asked. Yagura was happy that he still had his mask on, otherwise Minato would have noticed him turn pale.

Yep, things would definitely turn interesting.


	7. Jinchuuriki Revealed

Jinchuuriki Revealed

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the sandaime hokage of konohagukare no sato was a busy man during these grave times. He was the man who had to endure the guilt and pain, from sending his subordinates to their possible deaths, day after day.

He was also the man whom recieved daily reports of how the various battlefields was holding up. During the last 3 weeks he had been working nonstop, as the war in Kiri had taken a drastic change. Reports from Danzo stated that a battle 65 miles inside Kiri's borders had taken place 3 weeks ago, and was thus far the bloodiest one during the second shinobi war.

He couldn't help but feel saddened by the amount of lives lost. They had lost around 250 of their own shinobi, where as Kiri lost around 300 to 400, as well as their main base.

The battle had been dubbed 'The battle of the bloody mist' by everyone who had witnessed the aftermath. It had been a popular name for Kiri for the last previous 10 years, but it was finally official. Kiri was no longer known as just the village hidden in the mist, they had become the bloody mist.

A few good news about this battle of the bloody mist was the sudden halt to the war. Both sides had simply stopped fighting, as if not figuring where the war would go from there. It had taken 5 days for the bloody mist to pull back with half of their forces after making an agreement for a ceasefire, giving the leaf nins a much needed break.

However, not everything was good. Hiruzen's letters from Kiri wasn't only sent by Danzo. Yagura had definitely been spotted, and quite frankly Hiruzen knew it would come to this. Kiri had obviously not been happy when they found out, and thus sent mails concerning the topic of _their_ _living weapon_.

The battle had been put on halt, yes. However, the war had just begun, although this time it wasn't a battle of blades and jutsus. This time it was politics, and Hiruzen could only smile grimly. This was after all something he specialised in.

Truth be told, he wanted and expected Yagura to rely on his powers at some point. He didn't expect it to be so soon though, but he didn't mind too much.

The rumors of Konoha having a jinchuuriki with control of his powers had spread out wide and far, and since the knowledge of jinchuuriki powers wasn't widespread or known of, it was safe to assume the respect and fear of Konoha had increased.

Jinchuuriki was always a weird and widespread topic. Many people know they can use the bijuu's powers to a certain degree, but that was about it. Most of them would eventually turn insane, and get outright executed, as a new young vessel would be picked.

Nobody expected someone to actually become the so called 'perfect jinchuuriki', but Yagura had thrown that belief straight out of the window. A few people had obviously witnessed the sheer power, and even Hiruzen had witnessed it, and was left in awe.

Yagura was after all only 10 years old, and already in good control. A few years from now, and he might just make a legendary step in history, and transform completely. Hiruzen was only grateful that Yagura seemed like a well behaved person of honor, and wouldn't abuse that kind of power.

It wouldn't surprise him if Yagura was actually capable of a full transformation. He always felt as if Yagura held back somewhat, but he couldn't blame him for that. Practising in the arts of being a jinchuuriki was to say the least, not safe.

Yes, Yagura was obviously making a name for himself out in the world already. Hiruzen had expected as much. The youngest shinobi of the leaf completing a S-rank mission as well, impressing Hiruzen even further.

He gave a pleasant smile as he thought of the young boy thinking back on when he arrived, and his questions if he made the right choice. It was finally now that he could sit back and enjoy that decision. "It was the best decision of the century." He muttered with mirth.

As his thoughts went away from the prodigy that is Yagura, he once again focused on his job. Only this time it would be interesting. He never understood why he liked politics this much, perhaps because nobody would expect this old man to be cunning. He had to admit that subtly defeating your opponent with wisely chosen words was as satisfying as any battle.

.

Yagura hadn't expected the knowledge of his jinchuuriki status to become so famous this quickly. He was however, relieved that nobody downright feared him, people were more curious than anything in fact. A few people were wary around him, but that was to be expected he supposed.

If this was 19 years into the future, after the kyuubi attack they would have thought differently. But for now he simply enjoyed actually being admired for his abilities, rather than treated as a freak.

He had told Minato as the first person, the conversation had been something Yagura could never have imagined. He realised then and there that the yondaime hokage which he sometimes viewed Minato as, was still only a child.

_Flasback:_

"Hey Yagura, what was that red cloak and tail technique?" Minato asked.

Yagura remained silent for a while as if figuring the right way to explain the concept of a jinchuuriki. He was quite sure that Minato hadn't practised in the arts of fuinjutsu yet, and downright telling him that a mountain sized turtle was sealed inside him wouldn't do wonders.

"...I suppose you can call it the power of my tenant," Yagura said, confusing Minato further.

"Your tenant? What do you mean by a tenant? I didn't know you had a bloodline limit, if that's the case." Minato said chuckling.

Yagura sighed as he gestured for Minato to follow him as they moved away from their travelling group. "Do you know of the nine bijuus? You know, the tailed beasts ranging from 1 to 9 tails?"

Minato frowned as he nodded, "yeah, everyone knows about that. It is rumored that the kyuubi was a part of Madara's and Hashirama's battle. Some people claim that it was the personal summon of Madara. I personally believe it's a myth though."

Yagura smirked in amusement at that. Kurama would have thrown a fit had he heard someone call him a personal summon, and especially for someone like Madara. "It's not a myth, Minato. This is gonna take some explanation, so please be patient with me, alright?" Minato simply nodded, gesturing for Yagura to continue.

"The reason I know they aren't a myth is because... one of them is sealed inside of me, the sanbi." He said as Minato's eyes widened. "That doesn't mean _I am_ the tailed beast itself. I am the one keeping it in check, holding it in it's prison if you will." Yagura explained.

_**'I don't like being talked as an object you know, Shorty.'**_Isobu said definitely pouting by the tone of his voice.

_'Sorry Shellster, I don't like doing it either.'_ Yagura replied mentally frowning.

"So... you basically just used that tailed beast's power at your own will?" Minato asked, almost in childish curiousity.

"...Well, yes, that's one way to put it." Yagura said dumbfounded. Most people would have pointed accusing fingers at him, yelling freak, monster or simply avoided him fearing for their life. Perhaps jinchuuriki wasn't well known in Konoha? Then again, the previous yondaime hokage _did_ marry a jinchuuriki.

"That's so cool!" Minato exclaimed with a bright smile putting Maito Gai to shame, unnerving Yagura slightly.

"...What?" Yagura asked dumbfounded beyond belief.

"What? Come on, it's cool! So how is it? Did you talk with the beast? How was the beast? Can you do other special things with it?" Minato rambled on asking questions here and there.

Yagura could only stare in bewilderment as Minato kept on asking questions. He still couldn't help but smile. At least Minato didn't hate him. He was probably one of the few people to see it as 'cool' and quite frankly, Yagura thought it was quite cool too.

"Well you see..." Yagura started as the two friends and rivals talked about the topic that is a jinchuuriki.

_Flashback end:_

That was three weeks ago, and the news spread wide and far, no doubt because of Minato. Slowly more people began asking him questions about the topic, and Yagura to his huge relief found them to be mostly curious, and not too fearful or detesting him for being what he is.

The change was a welcomed one, as people looked upon him with approval and pride of Konoha's achievements. The topic of a jinchuuriki had become the new topic of discussion amongst the leaf camps.

Yagura found his new fame quite astounding. It didn't matter that he was a chunin, people admired him for his work and effort. The shinobis didn't see him as a chunin either, and quite frankly, everyone knew he was jonin material despite his age. However, to his amusement he had seen Minato work even harder in his already crazy training regime. It was almost heart warming viewing his rival not giving up without a fight.

A few years from now, Minato would start his own legend, that much Yagura was sure of. It still wouldn't hurt pushing him to train harder a bit earlier than expected, because Yagura was _clearly_ being superior at the moment and the perfect hokage candidate, right? Right? If you asked Minato the answear would be_ 'never'._

Yep. Life was good for Yagura, and he was sure that he would have fun sharing war stories with Minato, and outdo him more than he already had. At least he thought so, until...

.

"...I'm what?" Yagura asked confused.

"You're being sent home." Danzo replied reluctantly. He didn't like it either, but orders from the hokage was to be followed.

"B-but I still have 3 months left to serve before my break! It's too early!" Yagura hissed. He actually liked it in Kiri at the moment. People respected him, and the war was on a complete stop for the time being. It was nice and quiet.

"Hokage-sama's orders. There's nothing I can do about it." Danzo said, finding a small bit of amusement at Yagura pouting and mutters of senile old men.

"Did he tell the reasoning behind this?" Yagura asked sighing.

"I believe we both know the answear to that. It doesn't take a genius to realise. Your very existence in Kiri is a taunt towards them. Hiruzen probably planned this to happen eventually, and send you home the very moment Kiri located you." Danzo said. "...Although he probably didn't expect it to reach so many ears."

Yagura nodded reluctantly as Danzo smirked. "Besides," Danzo started, "your life would constantly be in danger just by being in the land of water. Assasination attempt after assasination attempt. I'd rather have you return home safely, than lose our living weapon." Yagura glared at the last remark but didn't voice his opinion.

"Fine, I'll be packing then. By your leave."

"Dismissed."

.

Minato had been slightly dismayed by the news of Yagura returning home. He swore to have surpassed Yagura the next time they met, and Yagura only grinned mockingly back with a smug reply. "Even with a century to spare Minato, you will never surpass me." Yagura shunshined away before the furious blonde could answear back.

Jiraiya had surprisingly been listening in on the conversation, and promised to teach Minato in the arts of chakra manipulation and fuinjutsu. When Yagura heard that, he smirked, the legend of the yellow flash was already in creation.

That thought only made himself frown. So far he had relied on already common and existing jutsus. He used them expertly, but they weren't special.

The rasengan and hiraishin was ingenious, and something even Yagura would fear. Not much could stand up to the rasengan, he had never witnessed anything that could actually rival it... at that thought, one jutsu came to mind. One jutsu which made him cackle in glee.

The chidori. He didn't know how to use it since he never had a lightning affinity, until now that is. He already knew the theory behind it, which would help out immensely. He smiled sadly as he thought of the man whom created the jutsu. It was very unlikely that Kakashi would even be born as the same person, as the timeline had changed so much already.

Despite those thoughts, he couldn't find any guilt in his upcoming actions. Kakashi was after all the infamous copy nin, whom had stolen over a thousand jutsus. Surely _he_ wouldn't blame him for learning that jutsu.

Perhaps being sent home for 6 months wasn't so bad after all. The thought of sending Minato miles away from him in skill made him smile. Yagura was ready to return home.

.

The trip home was quite uneventful, considering that it was war time. Usually ambush squads would be placed, or at least some exploding tags would have been planted, but he didn't mind the calm trip.

The trip had taken a little over a week, but the sight of Konoha was still heart warming in a nostalgic way. He would have loved to stay around, check up on the village but he knew duties came first. And besides, he had several months to check up on the village.

He suspected that Hiruzen expected him home soon, since the waiting time was surprisingly short. He barely managed to make his presence known, before the door opened welcoming him in.

Hiruzen hadn't changed much in the last few months, perhaps a few sleepless nights which didn't do good for his wrinkles, but that was one of his charms Yagura supposed.

"Hokage-sama, I'm reporting from duty." Yagura said with a small smile.

Hiruzen mirrored the smile as he chuckled. "I was wondering when you would show up. Your teammates and sensei have been asking about your arrival repeatedly. Apparantly you're growing famous in the world." he said as Yagura sighed out loud.

"Not many 10 year olds can brag about being put in the bingo book." Hiruzen said as Yagura rolled his eyes. _'Except for Kakashi, of course.'_ Yagura thought dryly.

"Anyhow, it's a welcoming sight with you back. I won't keep you for long though, your payment will be transferred to your account as usual. You'll have a few months for a break. Sakumo might contact you soon, and discuss the amount of months, if not a year you'll be staying here. He recently requested you as his apprentice, just like Jiraiya did with Minato. Will that suit you?" Yagura nodded at that slightly surprised.

"I should also warn you about something concerning Kirigakure." Hiruzen said in a grave tone. "Kiri has sent many letters concering you, which you shouldn't worry about too much, due to me taking care of the paperwork. However, I gave them permission to send a group of negotiators to talk and make a treaty concering you. However, you have nothing to fear about. I'm just warning you, some of your time might be spent in meetings."

Yagura couldn't help but frown at those news. He didn't have any particular experience with these meetings, and the way kiri persisted stubbornly ired him. Nothing to do about it now, he thought with a mental sigh. "I see... by your leave hokage-sama, I need time to think about this." Yagura said.

Hiruzen smiled, "dismissed. Oh, and do watch out for Kushina and Mikoto. Apparantly they have been quite restless since the news of your... status became known." Yagura frowned but nodded with a sigh.

He could have sworn Hiruzen had a hidden meaning by the way he looked at Yagura. Probably that Kushina had been surprised as hell realising her own teammate was a jinchuuriki too. He absently wondered what Mikoto would be thinking about all of this, having two jinchuuriki teammates.

"Will do hokage-sama. I'll see you around." He replied leaving the office room, preparing for a team reunion. He wasn't too afraid, after all Kushina was just like him, if not worse due to having a stronger bijuu. He still wondered if she would tell him.

.

Yagura had barely spent an hour in his apartment before his door had been slammed open, followed up by a loud roar/scream from two very familiar voices. No doubt the loudest one being Kushina.

He sighed, stepping out to greet his teammates although the sight was an unpleasant one. Yagura couldn't help the twitch of his eyes at the sight of his broken door, which Kushina attempted to repair, key word being attempted.

"Ehem." Yagura said clearing his throat. "Why is my door broken?" He asked in a surprisingly calm manner, although the killing intent was definitely felt by the two kunoichis.

Kushina grinned sheepishly pushing Mikoto towards Yagura, "I can honestly say it was Mikoto's idea. Anyway, who cares about a door, what took you so long turtle boy!"

Yagura raised a eyebrow at that comment. It was better than other nicknames, but it still didn't sit too well with him. "Turtle boy? How original." He said dryly.

Kushina didn't give him the chance at changing the subject and quickly shoved her teammates towards a couch, pulling a chair forth sitting infront of Yagura with a predatory gaze. "Now, spill the beans, what happened!" she all but demanded.

"...I kicked ass? Saved Minato from certain doom? Defeated thousands of jonins, what do you want to know?" he muttered slightly amused and frightened. He could practically feel Mikoto rolling her eyes despite being out of his eye sight.

"You could start off with why people are calling you some sort of turtle transformer." Kushina demanded. Yagura couldn't help but chuckle at the childish explanation and questioning from Kushina.

"Well... you see, I got this turtle in my gut, which obviously means I can turn into a turtle. Hence I'm the turtle boy. Makes sense, no?" Yagura said perfectly imitating Kakashi's eye smile.

The answear served him a punch to the gut, he clearly forgot about Kushina being a hard hitter. "Anyway," Mikoto said changing the subject. "It's nice having you back Yagura, I see you've grown a bit." she said giggling as Kushina smirked. "Still got a ways to go though."

Yagura growled but sighed instead. The jibes didn't bother him too much anymore. "Any other questions?"

"You can start off by explaining clearly, and not mockingly?" Kushina said clearly not satisfied so far.

Yagura sighed running a hand through his hair. "Okay, you know of the nine bijuus?" he asked, they nodded. "Well, I got one of them sealed in my gut. This does _not_ mean I am the bijuu itself! The beast is the sanbi, the three tailed turtle. I can somewhat borrow or take his chakra, call it what you want. The effect is what you have heard of, a somewhat transformation of a turtle and a human. I haven't done a complete transformation yet, and the rumors are probably exaggerated."

Kushina's eyes widened slightly in recognition until they narrowed suspiciously and then back to normal. Yagura didn't know what to make out of it, he chose that moment to glance at Mikoto whose mouth was slightly open in shock. Perfect. She probably thought he was a freak now.

"Does it hurt?" Mikoto asked concerned.

"What?" Yagura replied blinking in confusion.

"Does it hurt? You know... having a bijuu sealed in your gut?" Yagura kept silent for a bit until he sighed.

"No... it doesn't physically hurt. But he can be a pain in the ass, that's for sure. I don't know if physical torture is better than listening to him day in and day out. Did you know he talks while sleeping?" he said chuckling. Mikoto giggled again. Yagura was satisfied that the mood went back to normal again.

"This doesn't change anything between us, right?" he asked hoping for at least Mikoto's understanding. He already knew Kushina would accept him. He noticed how hopeful Kushina was looking at Mikoto as well.

Mikoto nodded with a smile, "of course! We are teammates after all, we look after eachother. Besides, I talked with hokage-sama about it, and he explained it all to me. Apparantly quite a few ninjas asked him as well. You're famous Yagura." She said smirking. "Better watch out for the fangirls these days, Yagura. I heard even the slightly older girls are interested these days."

Yagura raised a eyebrow at that, about to reply but Kushina broke in before. "Fan girls..." she growled, "disgusting beings, Yagura won't ever sink down to their level. Just keep an eye out Yagura, you got our backs if necessary!" she declared fiercely. Yagura chuckled quietly, actually thinking they were joking. He was wrong, but he wouldn't know that yet.

"Well, that's good to hear Kushina. Anyway, I was planning on visiting Sakumo-sensei for some pointers on a jutsu I had in mind. Do you have any idea where I could find h-"

"You just got home from your duty work, and you're already at it _again?_" Kushina hissed. "I see some things never change, _prodigy, _anyhow Mikoto and I thought it'd be better catching up. Don't you agree, Yagura?" she asked with a not so calm tone, which Yagura took as a threat, which quite frankly scared him slightly.

In the short amount of time he had known Kushina, he realised a few things about her. She was overprotective of her friends to the point of insanity. She had a fiery temper, and her strength had no rival, Tsunade was a close second though.

"...I agree, how foolish of me to think of training which _might_ just save my life one day. No, no, let's go catch up." He was sure Mikoto caught the sarcasm, unfortunately Kushina wasn't Mikoto.

"Great!" Kushina chirped. "I know this awesome ramen stand which just opened a few weeks ago!"

"Ichiraku?" Yagura all but whispered with a hopeful tone. This caused Kushina to look at him with narrowed eyes. Suspicious.

"How'd you know that?" She asked.

"Rumors spread fast, I guess." He said giving a bright smile, so foreign from his usual stoic face. His smile caused two blushes to appear, not that he noticed anyway, he was always dense like that. "Anyway, let's go then."

.

It was almost midnight when Yagura reached his apartment once again. He was definitely surprised by some of the updates in Konoha, which was clearly different from Naruto's time.

First of all, Sakumo-sensei wasn't meant to be a father for another 3 years, which had surprised Yagura immensely. Sakumo's wife had been pregnant for two months so far, which was ironic in a way, since Yagura himself had thought of claiming the chidori for himself at that point in time. He really didn't hope this was Kakashi demanding retribution for the chidori theft.

It didn't matter too much to Yagura, he would probably teach the kid a thing or two as repayment to Kakashi one way or another. The name wasn't even decided, or whether if it was a boy or a girl.

Then the other somewhat shocking news regarding Yagura, was the few requests for apprenticeship. Being an apprentice was nothing new to Yagura, since Jiraiya had been Naruto's sensei and master for 3 long years, however that was for many other reasons.

Naruto was a hunted jinchuuriki and _needed_ the training to survive, Yagura was different. He had the skill and dedication to become great, and even seeing few jonins request him as their apprentice was an honor in itself. He wasn't too surprised that Sakumo was one of them, he was after all the person giving him the news in the first place.

Yagura, Mikoto and Kushina had ended the day with a simple sparring session showing eachother several moves and jutsus they recently learned. It had taken a few hours of begging from Kushina and pleading eyes from Mikoto until he couldn't resist, and finally showed them what made him the 'turtle boy' which awed them to no end, and a bit of envy on Kushina's part.

Yagura didn't know if the hopeful or determined face from Kushina after the show was a great sight or not. She really shouldn't go around playing with her jinchuuriki powers, just because he had done so. He was slightly put off that she hadn't told him about Kurama yet, but he knew better than to push her. Kushina was known for having a temper after all.

The last of his thoughts went towards Kiri. He knew that he was on the top of their enemy list, or at least he thought so. He had royally pissed off the mizukage, that much was for sure.

The negotiators travelling to Konoha would arrive soon, probably escorted by Konoha ninjas for safety sake. He was nervous, not really knowing what Kiri's game was. They couldn't demand him back, since he wasn't officially a rogue ninja, and even then they couldn't reclaim them.

There were no rules claiming jinchuurikis to be property of a hidden village. It was more like a unwritten rule, and thus was in no effect.

Kiri was in no possession to reclaim him either, as Konoha held more power than Kiri without a doubt. Which brought Yagura's nervousness. What was Kiri hoping to achieve with this meeting? They would probably negotiate for a trade, but Hiruzen had made it perfectly clear that a trade between shinobi would only be accepted if said shinobi and village agrees.

That only brought one oppourtunity for Kiri. They would try to tempt him into joining Kiri, but how? He wasn't interested in power or wealth, but they obviously didn't know that. Either way, he had a bad feeling about this upcoming meeting, as if a nasty surprise was coming up.

With a frustrated sigh, he turned off the lights and went to sleep.

.

The next day was spent attempting to locate Sakumo. He was going to talk about his apprenticeship, and hopefully get some pointers on his chidori project. He wanted it to be a surprise and thus decided to hide it from Kushina and Mikoto for the time being.

If there was one thing he had learned from Naruto's memories, and their shared experiences, then it is the fact that almost everyone in Konoha doesn't care about other peoples' privacy, and that was thus how Yagura almost got his head cut off.

He had simply leaped through a window into Sakumo's flat, and a second later had a ninjato hanging by his throat. He was definitely caught off guard, and slightly scared. However, he quickly forgot about his immediate danger as he realised his mistake. He hadn't leaped into just any room, he had by unfortunate bad luck landed in a bedroom with two adults wearing little clothes left to the imagining.

Fighting back a heavy blush, and the immediate urge to shunshin the hell out of there, never to return again, he spoke with his most confident voice he could muster. "S-Sakumo-sensei, y-you wanted to see me?" he said giving a quick glance at the woman next to him, just to look away again. "A-and good day to you miss Hatake, congratulations with the child by the way."

He wasn't surprised by the two heavy glares sent his way, however Sakumo quickly dismissed him, pushing him towards the living room telling him to wait for a few minutes and grab something to eat, while Sakumo went out to contact someone.

Ten minutes later Sakumo returned, with a carefree attitude once again, as if the past episode never happened. Either way, their conversation started off about what apprenticeship entailed. Yagura wasn't surprised by the fact, that Sakumo picked this job due to certain privilegies.

Privilegies such as being able to stay off war duty teaching his apprentice, and thus being able to stay home with his wife and upcoming child. Yagura didn't mind much, although he did feel as a cheap excuse to stay off duty on Sakumo's behalf.

They could stay in Konoha for a maximum of 15 months before returning back to duty, or in case Hiruzen requested or demanded them back on duty. Yep, Sakumo had definitely thought of everything when he thought of apprenticeship.

Either way, their conversation quickly skipped the details of apprenticeship information, and went straight to the training details. Yagura didn't waste time explaining his upcoming project, giving certain pointers and ideas. To Yagura's surprise and pride, Sakumo thought the jutsu sounded like a work of a genius.

"It's genius, nothing short of a work of a genius!" Sakumo praised hearing the details of the project. Yagura felt somewhat guilty at the praise. Hearing those words from his father would make Kakashi so happy, and for Yagura to take that praise... well, he wasn't feeling all too well.

"It reminds me somewhat of a technique from the sandaime raikage," Sakumo commented with a thoughtful expression. "You focus lightning chakra into your palm, rather than your fingers creating a strong piercing effect. The extra defensive layer covering your palm protecting yourself from lightning damage is simply genius. I knew there was more to you than just a hell of a lot of chakra and skill." Sakumo said smiling widely.

Yagura inwardly smirked at the mention of the sandaime raikage. Memories of Naruto beating him thoroughly, during the 4th shinobi war running through his mind. Yagura somewhat mused if the chidori was an imitation of the **saikyō no hoko** jutsu created by the 3rd raikage. Either way, Kakashi had been a genius, that's for sure.

"I got the idea from the sandaime raikage in fact," Yagura lied. "So, are you up for it? If you're lucky, I might just let you use the jutsu yourself in the near future," Yagura said smirking.

Sakumo chuckled in return, "well... it's my job now, isn't it? And you're just in luck as well. I'm a lightning user myself, which will help greatly in the project. However, I don't want to focus purely on this jutsu project. We have to practise some taijutsu first of all." Yagura's smile faltered abruptly at that.

"Taijutsu...?" Yagura muttered with disdain clear in his voice.

"Come on now Yagura. You can't always rely on your staff." Sakumo scolded, smirking as Yagura pouted. "I made sure you had a proper training partner as well for taijutsu," Sakumo said, smirk never leaving his face. "Come on in Kushina!" Yagura's eyes widened to comical sizes as Kushina stepped inside smirking.

"Kushina is my training partner!?" Yagura spluttered. "Are you insane!? She's the freaking Tsunade reincarnate! I'll be dead by the end of the training session! I, Kenji Yagura hereby decline the offer of becoming Hatake Sakumo's apprentice." He said crossing his arms scowling.

If anything, Kushina's smirk only increased. "Aww, Yagu-chan are you afraid? Perhaps you're right, I should go to Minato for a real challenge." Yagura ignored her, he wasn't going to fall for her tricks.

Sakumo's smirk hadn't faltered for several minutes by now as he joined in on the teasing. "You're probably right Kushina. Minato has the right _height_ after all. Yagura is a bit too short to really succeed at taijutsu." Yagura's eyes twitched, but he wouldn't fall for it.

Sakumo sighed dramatically with a mocking far away look on his face. "I suppose Jiraiya was right after all. Yagura doesn't have what it takes to become a proper shinobi and my apprentice." At this point Yagura couldn't hold back a growl.

"I didn't know turtles growled? I always thought them to be somewhat lazy and carefree. Is that why you aren't taking your shinobi career seriously, Yagura? Are you a little lazy carefree turtle?" Kushina said libs twitching into a smile.

Yagura definitely growled at this point. "Kushina. You, me. Taijutsu, NOW!" He growled stepping out of the apartment ignoring the slapping sound of a highfive in the background.

.

A few hours later consisting of taijutsu spars, and a result of a severely beat up Yagura with bruises and wounds covering his body, we find the group sitting in the Ichiraku stand.

"I'm actually quite surprised by your taijutsu style Yagura," Sakumo commented. "Your style is... unique, not very sloppy actually. It's like a mix of the academic taijutsu style, my own style and Jiraiya's style if such a thing is even possible."

Yagura simply smirked. Sometimes it did wonders having Kakashi and Jiraiya as senseis. "Coincidence I suppose. Although it wasn't enough to beat Kushina. Then again, Kushina is a natural at taijutsu."

"Just like you are a natural at ninjutsu... and slamming people with a staff I suppose," Kushina commented.

"And Mikoto as a natural at genjutsu... huh, who would of known. The team is really quite balanced all around, huh?" Sakumo said, somewhat with pride.

"Yeah..." Yagura said frowning in deep thought.

"Is something wrong Yagura? You haven't been very talkative lately, well, less than usual." Sakumo asked worriedly.

"It's nothing... hopefully. It's just this whole Kiri ninja business. They are sending over some negotiators within the next few days. Heck, they might as well arrive tonight. I just don't understand it at all Sakumo-sensei. I'm not interested in wealth or power, and I'm pretty sure they know this. Shinobis usually doesn't care much about their economy or wealth, and power... you can't just offer power, that sounds too much like..." _Orochimaru._ "I don't know. It's just confusing, is all."

"You're worried," Sakumo said.

"Not really. Well, sort of I guess, but I really don't know. Hokage-sama has told me about the details. They can't just simply _demand_ me back to Kiri. The only way for that to happen, is if I actually _want_ to come back. And even then hokage-sama still has to accept the details. I simply don't understand what Kiri wants out of this whole deal?"

Silence took over the ramen stand for a while until Sakumo came up with something. "Maybe they didn't come as a means to get you to return. Perhaps they want something else? Perhaps an alliance of sorts."

"Maybe an arranged marriage?" Kushina commented with a wide smirk. Yagura choked on his food at that suggestion.

"_W-what_?" Yagura whispered.

"It's a possibility..." Sakumo smirked, "although, I doubt it. Hokage-sama has _never_ agreed to such a deal without the shinobi's agreement." Yagura breathed out in relief at that information. "But perhaps they truly did want something else other than your allegiance Yagura." Sakumo said.

"Perhaps." Yagura said feeling a bit more reassured. "Whatever happens. I'll definitely stay here, it is my home after all." Yagura said, and no sooner had an ANBU appeared behind them all.

"Kenji Yagura?" the masked woman asked in the usual monotone voice famous around ANBU shinobi. A nod from Yagura, and the ANBU handed over a piece of paper. "Information from hokage-sama," and just like that she disappeared.

Yagura quickly opened the piece of paper taking in a deep breath of air. Sakumo and Kushina took the oppourtunity to read over his shoulder as well.

_Kenji Yagura._

_Kirigakure no sato negotiators has arrived at Konoha. You are ordered to particpate in tomorrow's meeting, by your hokage and the Kiri negotiators. A time for this meeting will be decided and delivered at a later time tomorrow._

Prepare for a family reunion, Yagura. I merely sent the letter as an early warning.

_Sarutobi Hiruzen – Sandaime hokage._

Yagura raised a eyebrow at the short letter. "Prepare for a family reunion? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he muttered.

"Who knows? Maybe you have a distant relative coming?" Sakumo said chuckling.

"No... I don't have any relatives. I made sure of it, plenty of times in fact. I asked the mizukage several times and he always denied it, telling me my relatives were dead." Yagura said frowning.

"Well, maybe he didn't mean family reunion as in _real_ family. Perhaps he merely meant family reunion, such as Kiri was your old home and therefore family? You know how hokage-sama is like that. All of Konoha is his family, maybe he thinks Kiri ninjas is sort of family to you?" Kushina said. Yagura and Sakumo nodded at that, it was reasonable after all.

"Either way, good luck with your meeting tomorrow. We will put a stop to training for now, you need to prepare mentally for this meeting I think." Sakumo said as they gave their goodbyes and spread off.

.

Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help but frown at the moment. He had observed with his crystal ball, Yagura's reaction to his letter. Yagura truly didn't have any clue as to who this young woman had been.

Truth be told, Hiruzen was surprised as well. He is also quite worried. The few times he had talked with Yagura, it was clear that Yagura was proud of his family tree. That's what worried him greatly. He didn't know how Yagura would react to seeing such a close relative.

He was sure that Yagura wouldn't leave, but there was no telling how he would take the news. Kenji Hikari, Yagura's sister, was a surprise and it was clear that she desperately wanted to meet her brother. However, that didn't make sense since Yagura didn't know of her very existence.

Kenji Hikari was a mystery, just like Yagura was. It was possibly a family trait he mused. He would have to look up on her details in the future, and figure why on earth Yagura didn't know of her.

Thinking back on the meeting between him and the negotiators he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous, happy and sad. It was clear by the way she acted that she wanted to meet Yagura, and he would bet his hokage hat that the feeling was mutual on Yagura's behalf.

_Flashback: 30 minutes._

Hiruzen watched impassively as the Kiri ninjas entered the office, escorted by his ANBU ninjas. The kiri ninjas' weapons and other tools had been taken from them, as well as blocked their chakra. It was necessary, and the Kiri ninjas knew it as well.

There was four of them in total. Three men, looking just as dangerous and ruthless as any other Kiri ninja. Shark looking teeth, unruly hair and several scars. It was a common joke how inhumane Kiri ninjas could look, and behave.

However, the young teen girl standing next to them was anything but ruthless and bad looking. Her hair was a dull brown color, bordering grey almost like Yagura's. It didn't make her look bad at all, her eyes were a deep green almost like Yagura's, just in a green color rather than purple. The only difference would be their height and age. This girl had an average height, rather than Yagura's short height. She had shoulder length hair and looked pleasnt and soft, yet very dangerous.

"Hello gentlemen, and lady." Hiruzen said with a nod of acknowledgement which was mirrored by four bows. "My name is Sarutobi Hiruzen, the hokage of my village."

To Hiruzen's surprise, it wasn't the older men taking the initiative. But the young teen instead. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you hokage-sama," she said politely. "I am Hikari. Kenji Hikari," she said as Hiruzen's eyes widened for a second turning into a neutral expression again. Hiruzen knew by the subtle smirk on her face that she had noticed his reaction.

"And these three men are Hoji, Nobou and Tadao," she said gesturing to her comrades.

"A pleasure to meet you all," Hiruzen said softly. "Hikari-san, are you by any chance related to Yagura?" he asked bluntly.

"Why, yes I am. He is my little brother after all," she said smiling softly, as if it was the first time admitting that to anyone. Hiruzen was surprised either way. "He doesn't know about me though... there was... certain reasons for that," she said scowling.

"I... see," Hiruzen said. "Either way, it is quite late for a meeting, and I'm sure Yagura is needed for this meeting, yes?" at the four nods he continued. "I will send a message to Yagura, although I believe it to be a better idea of continuing this meeting tomorrow when all are refreshed and ready."

Hikari nodded, "um... hokage-sama, I have a personal request." At Hiruzens perplexed look and nod she continued. "Is it... possible for me to meet Yagura before the meeting? As in this evening if possible? I would very much like to meet him," she said in a neutral tone, but it was almost pleading.

Hiruzen frowned as he sighed. "I'm sorry Hikari-san, but I believe you'll have to meet him tomorrow. Village security foremost, and I don't know how Yagura will react to seeing you."

Hikari nodded with a somewhat sad chuckle. "Heh, I suppose our second meeting can only go better than our first one." At the konoha ninjas' confused look she elaborated. "Our first meeting wasn't... very pleasant. It was during the battle of the bloody mist. He sort of beat me," she said blushing in embarassment as the konoha nins smirked. "I didn't quite know it was him, all I saw was his staff and I blamed him for theft."

The konoha ninjas chuckled at that, the tense atmosphere slowly disappearing. "Anyway, I'll meet him tomorrow. I just hope it to be possible for a personal meeting with him. There are certain things I'd like to talk about." Hiruzen nodded at that.

"I'll try and arrange that. Please follow your escorts to your rooms for the night, and we'll talk about this further tomorrow." Hiruzen said as the kiri nins gave him their thanks and left.

_Flashback end:_

Hiruzen sighed, tomorrow would certainly be a interesting event. He only hoped Yagura wouldn't react badly. Never in his life would he think Yagura could cause so much trouble for him, when he was placed in the ninja academy a few years back.

He chuckled at the thought as he locked the office door returning back home. He had a busy day for tomorrow, and the thought of a family reunion on his mind would certainly be interesting.

As he locked the office and returned home for some night's rest. Several inviduals thought of tomorrow's meeting with several thoughts swirling their minds.


End file.
